




it* 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

T5S 



Shelf-_lAi-_l5 



UNITED STATE^ OF AMERICA. 



CHINA 



TEAYELS AJ^D mYESTIGATIOlJ^S IN THE 
"MIDDLE KmGDOM" 

A STUDY OF 
ITS CIVILIZATION AND POSSIBILITIES 



WITH A GLANCE AT JAPAN 



BY I 



JAMES HAERISON WILSON 

LATE MAJOB-GENEBAL UISTITED STATES VOLUNTEEBS, AND 
BBEVET MA JOB-GENERAL .UNITED STAT:?JS^A^MY 



SECOND En. 



^TION 



NEW YORK 

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 

1894 



CopTKiGHT, 1887, 1894, 
By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. 



-nS-^^^ 



!X 



TO 

COLONEL LEGRAND B. CANNON, 

OF NEW YORK, 

A LOYAL CITIZEN, A GOOD SOLDIER, AND A TRUE FRIEND^ 

THE FOLLOWIlSra PAGES ARE INSCRIBED, 

WITH THE AFFECTIONATE REGARDS OF 

THE AUTHOR. 



PEEFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 



The war now in progress between China and Japan 
seems to justify a second edition of this work. It is 
qnite as true now in all essential particulars as it was 
when it was written. The young Emperor, the aged 
Yiceroy, and the progressive Liu Ming-Chu'an, are each 
a few years older ; the Seventh Prince and the Marquis 
Tseng have died, but China and its institutions, its gov- 
ernment and its people have undergone no perceptible 
change. 

The Empress-Dowager is perhaps still the most pow- 
erful personage in the empire, and will doubtless exert 
the full influence of her vigorous mind upon the course 
of events and upon the government of her nephew ; but 
the government itself is yet without an adequate revenue 
or fiscal system, an adequate army or navy, an adequate 
civil or military administration, or adequate means of 
transport for the successful conduct of war by sea or 
land. It has discharged its most efficient foreign offi- 
cers, and, while it has some troops armed with modern 
firearms and some fine foreign-built men-of-war, it is 
but poorly prepared to withstand the vigorous advance 
of a well-disciplined and well-commanded modern army 
or navy. 



yi PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 

The railroad from Tientsin and Tongku (near 
Taku) to tlie Kaiping coal-mines has been extended 
through the coal fields, in the direction of Manchuria, 
to Shan-hai-Quan, the point on the Gulf of Pechihli 
from which the Great Wall takes its start. The entire 
length of this road is about two hundred miles. Its 
most important service is to carry coal to the Chinese 
fleet and merchant steamers, but as it is nowhere more 
than two days' march, and in many places less than a 
single day's march, from the sea, it offers an additional 
objective of great importance to an invading army. 

The resources of the Chinese Empire, and of the nine- 
teen provincial governments of China Proper, in men, 
are almost illimitable ; but without modern organization, 
a military chest, the means of transport, and even of 
any high degree of patriotism, it will be difficult, if not 
almost impossible, for them to utilize these resources 
in time to prevent national disgrace and humiliation. 

Special attention is called to the character and serv- 
ices of the Viceroy Li, to the memorials of Liu Ming- 
Chu'an (now the commanding general of the Chinese 
forces in the field), and of Tso-Tsung-Tang in regard to 
the introduction of railroads ; also to the machinery of 
the Government at Peking, and to its fiscal system, as 
set forth in the following pages. 

On the other hand, while China has stood still for 
the last decade, Japan, with a modernized government, 
under the control of able statesmen ; a compact and 
thoroughly disciplined army, fully armed and equipped 
according to the best European practice ; an excellent 
navy, with a full complement of modern ironclads and 
gunboats of the best English and German types, pro- 
vided with the best high-power guns, and manned by 



PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDI TICK vii 

thoroughly educated officers and well-trained men, has 
moved forward with rapid strides, and seems to be 
ready at every point for an active aggressive war. 

The struggle is an interesting one. It has its origin 
primarily in the claim of China to suzerainty over 
Corea, complicated by the further fact that Japan is 
separated from that country by a strait only about 
seventy miles wide, across which the Japanese have 
gone in great numbers for the purpose of trading. 
The Corean Government and its officials are corrupt 
and oppressive, and have become more so of late ; the 
people of the southern provinces have rebelled, and 
were threatening to march upon the capital. A spirit 
of lawlessness has spread throughout the country ; many 
acts of violence have been committed against foreign- 
ers, and specially against the Japanese. The King's 
troops naturally sympathized with the rebels, and this 
in turn had paralyzed the Government. 

At this juncture the Chinese minister, who is really 
regarded by his government as a Resident at Seoul, suc- 
ceeded in inducing the King to ask for the assistance 
of Chinese troops, whereupon several thousand were 
sent into the country. These were followed by oth- 
ers shortly, and as this was regarded by Japan not 
only as a violation of the treaty existing between the 
two countries, but as adding to the outrages already 
inflicted upon her citizens by the Coreans, she pro- 
ceeded at once, and without formal notice, with a fleet 
of twenty-eight transports and war-ships, ten thousand 
soldiers of all arms, three thousand coolies, and all the 
necessary materiel of war, to effect a landing upon the 
coast, and to march to Seoul, the capital, which is now 
completely under her domination. 



viii PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 

What the relative rights of the combatants, the 
course of events, and the results of the struggle may 
be, the future alone can reveal, but it is believed that 
the facts set forth in the following pages will materially 
help the reader to form a correct estimate of the condi- 
tion of the two countries, the habits of their people, 
and their aptitude and readiness for war. 

In view of the fact that the two great rival Asiatic 
powers, Russia and England, are profoundly interested 
in the conflict, and that the present Government of 
China is one of conquest, threatened at all times by 
rebellion within, it is not impossible that the war now 
in progress may lead to important and far-reaching 
changes in the condition of Eastern Asia. 

Wilmington, Delaware, August 16, 1894. 



PEEFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 



Owing to the universal depression in trade for tlie 
last five years, China has strongly attracted the atten- 
tion of the whole world, and especially of England, 
Germany, France, and the United States, as the only 
great country yet remaining to be provided with rail- 
roads. In the spring of 1885 I turned my attention in 
that direction ; but, when I sought to obtain specific in- 
formation as to the actual condition of afl^airs in respect 
to railroads and other modern improvements, and the 
readiness of the Chinese Government and people for 
their introduction, I could learn nothing whatever upon 
which it seemed to be safe to base calculations or draw 
conclusions. After conferring with a few friends in 
I^ew York, who had also been impressed with the same 
general fact, and were looking about to discover new 
fields for American skill, enterprise, and capital, and 
who also found themselves utterly unable to get trust- 
worthy information, I resolved for our common benefit 
to visit the countries beyond the Pacific, and see for 
myself whether they were ready for railroads, whether, 
if built, railroads would probably pay, and also whether 
the construction and management of them could be se- 
cured for Americans, under such terms and conditions, 



X PREFACE TO TEE FIRST EDITION, 

as promised fair returns for the skill and capital em- 
ployed, and the risk involved. 

I saw no other means of satisfactorily solving the 
questions which presented themselves. The corre- 
spondence of our diplomatic and consular agents was 
silent on those points, or unattainable ; and, even if it 
had not been, it could not have been expected to con- 
tain anything more than the most general statement of 
facts. Hitherto our diplomatic agents, with a few excep- 
tions, in Oriental countries at least, had imitated the tra- 
ditionary diplomatic policy of Europe, and ignored such 
questions, avoiding as far as possible all official notice 
and discussion of commerce, manufactures, and the mul- 
'titude of industries and public undertakings usually 
carried on by associated capital and labor, and which 
constitute the chief feature of what we call modern 
progress. An occasional traveler of a more practical 
turn of mind, or here and there a still more occasional 
newspaper correspondent, had called attention to the ab- 
sence of railroads, collieries, furnaces, and rolling-mills 
in China, so that the geheral fact became known ; but 
neither diplomatist, traveler, nor correspondent had yet 
furnished to the public any information, worthy of the 
name, bearing on the great question herein alluded to. 

Turn which way I might, I could get no adequate 
account of the real situation in China. I therefore left 
New York for San Francisco on the 8th of September, 
1885, and sailed thence for Yokohama and Shanghai on 
the 19th of the same month, by the Pacific Mail Com- 
pany's steamship City of Peking, Captain Berry com- 
manding. I had, of course, provided myself with a 
letter of credit, and such letters of introduction to dip- 
lomatic and consular agents, and to American merchants 



PEE FACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. xi 

residing in the treaty ports, as I could obtain in tlie short 
time left me after I had made up my mind to go. The 
voyage to Yokohama lasted twenty-two days, and to 
Shanghai eight days more. 

Without any definite information or prearranged 
plan, I hoped my travels and investigations woald not 
require more than five or six months at the outside, 
and, as winter was approaching, I hurried forward to 
Tientsin, the port of Peking and of J^orthern China, but 
specially important as the principal residence of Li Hung- 
Chang, First Grand Secretary of the Empire, Yiceroy of 
Chihli (the metropolitan province), and, since the sup- 
pression of the Taiping rebellion, one of the most con- 
spicuous and influential men in China. Having been re- 
ceived by him with every mark of distinction, and after 
several conferences, during which he imparted his views 
fully and frankly to me, at his personal request I made 
journies to Taku, Kaiping, Peking, the Great Wall, 
and finally to the Yellow River and beyond, for the 
purpose of inspecting its embankments, and also of ex- 
amining the Grand Canal and the country adjacent to 
them. During this last-mentioned journey, which was 
made in midwinter, I traveled over fifteen hundred 
miles on horseback, through the provinces of Chihli, 
Honan, and Shantung. I visited Kaifung-fu, the capital 
of Honan, and Ohinan-fu, the capital of Shantung ; and 
also Kii-fu, celebrated as the home and burial-place of 
Confucius. I climbed Taishan, the sacred mountain of 
China, and passed through many important towns and 
cities. 

On my return to Tientsin I had several interviews 
with the Yiceroy Li and other high Chinese officials, 
again visited Peking for two weeks, and, finally, al- 



xii PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 

most immediately after the ice broke up in the Pei-ho 
and navigation was resumed, I sailed for Shanghai. 
From this place I made a trip up the Yang-tse-kiang, 
during which I visited Chinkiang and JSTanking, and had 
an interview with Tseng Quo-Chu'an, the venerable and 
distinguished Viceroy of the Kiang provinces. Eeturn- 
ing to Shanghai, I sailed for Japan, touching again at 
!N"agasaki and Simonoseki, and landing at Kobe. From 
the latter place I went by rail to Osaka and Kioto, where 
I remained for several days. Resuming my journey, I 
went by rail to Otsu, at the eastern end of Lake Biwa, 
crossed by steamer to JSTagahama and took the railroad 
again thence to Sekigahara. Here I employed jinri- 
Mshas^"^ or man-power carriages, and continued my trav- 
els by the IS^akasendo, or the road of the central mount- 
ains to Yokogawa and Sakimoto, where I again took 
rail for Tokio and Yokohama. 

Having spent the whole of May, the loveliest month 
of the year, in traveling through the most beautiful 
country in the world, I returned to Shanghai, and at the 
invitation of Liu Ming-^hu'an, the energetic and capable 
Governor-General of Formosa, I visited that island and 
spent a week in traveling over its northern end, examin- 
ing its rivers and harbors, and studying its resources. 
While there I received an invitation by telegraph to re- 
visit the Yiceroy Li, and accordingly re-embarked on 
the Chinese steam-transport Way Lee, Captain Daniel- 
sen commanding, for Shanghai, where I transferred to 
an English steamer for Tientsin. I remained at the last- 
mentioned place for two weeks, and then set out for 
home by the way of Shanghai, ISTagasaki, Kobe, Yoko- 
hama, and San Francisco. I arrived at N^ew York with- 

* Invented by an American missionary. 



PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. xiii 

out accident or unusual delay ; but, instead of having 
been gone only six months, as I had hoped, my absence 
had extended to within three weeks of a year. 

Although my travels had carried me over nearly 
thirty thousand miles by sea and land, and had taken 
me to many places out of the usual path of travelers, I 
doubt if they would of themselves justify another book 
on China and Japan ; but in view of the important per- 
sonages I met, the information I obtained, and the class 
of questions which principally engaged my attention, it 
seems to me that I am warranted in submitting the fol- 
lowing pages to the public, and in requesting its indul- 
gent consideration of the same. In this my friends and 
correspondents at home have expressed their concur- 
rence, and must bear with me the responsibility for any 
disappointment which they or the public may suffer at 
my hands. 

It is suggested furthermore that, notwithstanding the 
great number of books on China, there is at this time 
room for another, which should briefly tell what China 
and the Chinese were before foreign influences had ma- 
terially changed them, what foreigners have done for 
or forced them to do, and what remains for foreigners 
to do, with the prospect of their doing it. In other 
words, it should make progress in China its burden and 
text, and in the narrative which follows I have kept 
that text constantly in mind, and aimed to give the 
reader the materials for forming an intelligent opinion 
in reference to it. If any one wishes to obtain a more 
comprehensive account of China and the Chinese, with- 
in the limits of a single work, he can not possibly do 
better than to study carefully and diligently the latest 
edition of the "Middle Kingdom," by S. Wells Will- 



xi\r PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 

iams, for many years a leading missionary, and at vari- 
ous times secretary of legation and charge d'affaires 
for the United States at Peking. These volumes are 
the adopted standard authority of all foreigners and for- 
eign legations in China, and are an enduring monument 
to the profound learning and the great application of 
their author. I have drawn freely upon them, and 
hereby acknowledge my indebtedness to them. 

The history of the Chinese Government and the dy- 
nasties which have controlled it is for the greater part 
an arid waste of intrigue, anarchy, and violence, varied 
with an almost endless series of internal and external 
wars. Here and there a great soldier or an honest and 
capable ruler emerges from the chaos and confusion, 
and governs the country wisely and well. He may be a 
Mongolian border-man, like the great Genghis or his 
son Kublai Khan ; a native Chinaman, like Hung-Wu ; 
or a Manchu Tartar, like Tienming, the founder of the 
present dynasty ; but the great rulers of China can be 
counted on the fingers of one hand, while the essence of 
their history can be told in a few short chapters. But a 
full and faithful account of dynasties and rulers, whether 
good or bad, can be found in Boulger's " China," to 
which I refer the reader who has the time and inclina- 
tion to devote to the subject. 

There are besides many interesting books of travel, 
describing with greater or less detail the various parts 
of the country. At the head of this list stands the 
story of Marco Polo, edited by Colonel Yule, but 
candor compels me to say of even this remarkable 
narrative that the editor's notes are much more in- 
teresting and instructive than the text to which they 
refer. I wish to acknowledge here my indebtedness 



PREFACE TO TEE FIRST EDITION'. xv 

to both Boulger and Yule, and also to Wilson's " Life 
of Gordon," and various other works of minor im- 
portance bearing upon the history of the Taiping rebel- 
lion. I am satislied, however, that no proper account 
has jet been written of that important period of mod- 
ern Chinese history, unless it is contained in the forth- 
coming " Life of Li Hung-Chang," by William E". Pe- 
thick, Esq., United States Yice-consul at Tientsin, to 
whom 1 am especially indebted for information upon 
every topic connected with China and the Chinese. 
His long residence in China and his intimate association 
with Li Hung-Chang, to whom he has also filled the 
position of secretary for many years, naturally make 
him an acknowledged authority, at least with Ameri- 
cans, on all Chinese questions. He is, besides, an ac- 
complished scholar of Chinese hterature, and both speaks 
and writes the language with great facility. I am also 
indebted to Dr. W. A. P. Martin, President of the 
Tung- Wen College at Peking, and author of the " Han- 
lin Papers," for much valuable information. 

To Colonel Charles Denby, our able and distinguished 
minister at Peking, I am specially indebted for introduc- 
tions and presentations, as well as for information and 
assistance which could not have been obtained from any 
other source, and without which my mission would have 
come to a speedy close. It must be as gratifying to 
every American citizen, without reference to party, to 
know that his country has never been more ably or 
creditably represented in China than it is now, as it is 
for me to make this statement. Not only the minister 
and his family, but his secretaries, Mr. W. W. Eockhill, 
Mr. Charles Denby, Jr., and Mr. F. D. Cheshire, are in 
every way worthy representatives of the country, and it 



xvi PREFACE TO TEE FIEST EDITION. 

is a source of unalloyed satisfaction to me to be able to 
speak of them, conscientiously as I do, in terms of un- 
qualified praise and respect. 

Finally, I am under many obligations for informa- 
tion and assistance to the American house of Eussell & 
Co., and its able and enterprising partners and agencies 
in all the treaty ports as well as in Formosa, and espe- 
cially to C. Vincent Smith, Esq., the senior partner at 
Shanghai ; also to E. J. Smithers, Esq., acting consul- 
general at Shanghai ; to George T. Bromley, Esq., con- 
sul at Tientsin ; Richard B. Hubbard, Esq., our minis- 
ter to Tokio ; to Henry W. Denison and Durham W. 
Stevens, Esqs., advisers to the Japanese Foreign Office ; 
and to Thomas and John Walsh, Esqs., of Messrs. 
"Walsh, Hall & Co., Yokohama. 

Stockford, near Wilmington, Delaware, March 12, 1887. 

Note. — The best general map of China is Keith Johnson's, in one or 
four sheets. That of Baron Kichthofen is best for geology and topog- 
raphy. 



OOl^TEIfTS 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

First visit to Japan — Genuine progress of the Japanese — Inland 
Sea — Return to Japan — The Nakasendo — Tokio — Received by 
the Emperor — The palace — The ministers and attendants — The 
Emperor — Ceremonials — The emancipation of the Emperor 
from the domination of the Tycoon — Tiffin at Uyeno Park — 
Dinner-party in Japanese style — Country-place and duck-pond 
— Gaishas — Wrestlers and wrestling — Saki and health-drinking 
— Kissing an innovation — Excursions — The progress and civili- 
zation of the Japanese genuine — The government and ministry 
— The governing class — Schools and colleges — Railroads — The 
prosperity of the people — Art and artisans — The original con- 
servatism of the Japanese — The progressive movement — The 
Satsuma rebellion — The triumph of the progressive party — 
Acknowledgment of Japanese autonomy by the American Gov- 
ernment — Treaty revision — No field for American railway- 
builders — Demand for American products — Delightful country 
for the traveler 1 

OHAPTEE II. 

Voyage through the Inland Sea — Mouth of the Yang-tse-kiang — 
The Wusung River — Shanghai — Foreign and Chinese city con- 
trasted — Chinese civilization — Ward and the Taiping rebellion 
— Li Hung-Chang and Tseng Quo-Fan — Future importance of 
Shanghai . . . . . . . , . . .19 

CHAPTER III. 
Area of China — Reached its greatest extent under Kublai Khan — 
Almost as great under the late Regent — China's isolated posi- 
tion — Approach of railroads toward western border— Communi- 



xviii CONTENTS. 



cation by steamships — Civilization different from any other — 
Origin of names of country — Provinces — Climate — Surface — 
Hwang-ho, or Yellow Kiver — Delta, or Great Plain — Inundations 
— ^Embankments — Change of river-bed 26 

CHAPTER ly. 

The Yang-tse-kiang — Its navigation — Its various names — ^Its tribu- 
taries — Its floods — Canals and creeks in the delta — Area of its 
water-shed — The Chukiang or Pearl River — The Min — The Pei- 
ho and its tributaries — The Peh-tang — The New-Chwang and 
the Ta-wen-ho 40 

CHAPTER y. 

The surface of the country — Sinian Mountain system — The high- 
lands and hill country — Origin of the loess terraces — The out- 
lying dependencies — Corea, Manchuria, Mongolia, Hi, Turkistan, 
and Thibet — The Great Plain or delta — Coal, iron, and other 
minerals — The Kaiping coal-mines and railroad — The first loco- 
motive built in China — The coal-mines of Formosa and Shansi 
— Coal transported in wheelbarrows — The development of coal 
and iron receiving Government attention — Foreign experts re- 
quired — Conservatism of the Government . . . .48 

CfiAPTER yi. 

Population of China — No complete census ever taken — The country 
not overcrowded — Influence of famines, rebellions, pestilence, 
and floods — Eeproduction normal and active — Population prob- 
ably greater than ever before — Country capable of supporting 
three times as many inhabitants — Origin of the Chinese race — v,' 
Physical characteristics — Compression of feet — Manchus do not 
practice the custom — Its origin — ^Failure to practice it looked 
upon as evidence of abject poverty and distress — Food of the 
Chinese people — ^Domestic animals 63 

CHAPTER yil. 

The houses of the Chinese — The clothing — The great public works 
— The walled cities — The only crystallized and accumulated 
labor of the Chinese — The effect of depopulation — The com- 



CONTENTS. xix 

PAGS 

mon people everywhere poor — No system of popular education 
— No conception of or vocabulary for science — Diversity of 
dialects — The classical or literary language of the country — 
The greater wall of China — Chinese civilization — The charac- 
teristics of the race — ^Arrested development — Future progress . 75 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Voyage from Shanghai to Tientsin — China Merchants' Steam Naviga- 
tion Company — American house of Russell and Company put 
the first steamboats on the Yang-tse — Sold them to the China 
Merchants' Company — Coast of Shan-tung — Chee-foo — Naval 
station at Port Arthur badly located — The northern fleet — 
Board of Admiralty — Command of the northern fleet — Need of 
educated officers — The Taku forts and dock-yard — "Heaven- 
sent barriers" — Chinese troops drilled by foreign officers in 
English — Chinese army badly organized, armed, and administered 
— The Pei-ho — Villages on its banks — Grave-mounds, and burial 
of the dead — Fung-shuy or geomancy — Difficulty of laying out 
railroads without removal of graves — How that can be managed . 85 

CHAPTEE IX. 

Races at Tientsin — Chinese band playing American airs — No social 
intercourse between Chinese and foreigners — Removal of grave- 
mounds to make way for the race-course — Political and com- 
mercial importance of Tientsin — The foreign settlement — 
Foreign gunboats — The Viceroy Li Hung-Chang — His American 
secretary — First call upon the Viceroy — His official residence 
or Yamen — Subjects discussed — Railroads and canals — Intelli- 
gence and interest displayed by the Viceroy — Ceremony of 
leave-taking — " Setting the watch " 101 

CHAPTER X. 

Li Hung-Chang — His public career — Influence of Generals Ward 
and Gordon — English misconception of their character — The 
career of Burgevine — The influence of the war threatened with 
Russia — Gordon revisited China — The introduction of tele- 
graphs — Messages sent in English, or cipher — Memorial of Liu 
Ming-Chu'an on the introduction of railways — Referred to Li 



XX CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Hung-Chang and Lin K'un-Yi — The memorial of Li Hung- 
Chang and Lin K'un-Yi — Tso Tsung-Tang's dying memorial on 
the same subject — No official action yet taken thereupon — The 
essence of progress and the death-knell of conservatism . .118 



CHAPTER XL 

Visit to Peking — The unspeakably filthy city of the world — Its 
origin and characteristics — No suburbs or villas — Streets not 
paved — The foreign legations and society — Non-intercourse be- 
tween court and diplomatic corps — The yoimg Emperor — The 
Empress-Dowager — Her unlimited power — The censors — The 
Emperor worships at the tomb of his ancestors — The influences 
which control him — He can hardly become a conservative — The 
difficulties of his situation — Unprepared for a foreign war . 160 

CHAPTER XIL 

The Emperor an absolute monarch — The Government patriarchal in 
form — Liberty unknown — Slavery exists — No hereditary no- 
bility except the imperial clan and heads of the families of 
Confucius and Koxinga — The literati are the office-holders — 
The Imperial Government — The Grand Secretariat — The General 
Council— The " Peking Gazette "—The Six Great Boards— The 
Tsung-li Yamen — The Censorate or all-examining court — The 
minor courts and boards — The functions f the great boards — 
Power greatly divided and distributed — The provincial govern- 
ments — All officers selected by public examination — Defects of 
the system — Li Hung-Chang' s position somewhat like that of 
the British Premier — Foreign ministers not yet received by the 
Emperor or Empress-Dowager — Much of the foreign business 
done by provincial governors — The central Government isolated 
and inaccessible — Difficulty of communicating or transacting 
business with it 1'79 

CHAPTER XIIL 

The eyes of the world now turned toward China as a field for in- 
vestment in public undertakings — Its financial system — Mo 
statistics except those of the maritime customs — The revenues 
collected by "farmers" — The growth of the system — The 



CONTENTS. xxi 

PAGE 

sources of the imperial Chinese revenue — The land-tax — The 
salt monopoly — The likin, or internal transit tax — Miscellane- 
ous taxes — Maritime customs duties — Summary — Comparison 
of Chinese and British Indian revenues — Estimates made by 
various persons — No correct account can be given of the ex- 
penditures of the Chinese Government — Approximate estimate 
— The funded debt — Fear of the Chinese Government to nego- 
tiate foreign loans — Its obligations good and negotiable for 
$100,000,000— The Chinese slow to lend to their Government 
— ^No statistics of private wealth — Thought to be capable of 
raising $100,000,000, if properly secured — Necessity of meas- 
ures to promote confidence 200 



CHAPTER XIY. 

Visit to the Great Wall — Decay of the ancient road through the 
Nankou Pass — Mongolian caravans — Origin, uses, and descrip- 
tion of the wail — The return to Nankou — The ride to the Ming 
tombs — Description of the inclosures and buildings — The Ave- 
nue of Statuary — The return to Peking 215 



CHAPTER XV. 

The Kai-ping coal-mines and railway — The first locomotive-engine 
built in China — Extension of the railway to Lutai — The Kai- 
ping coal-measures — Output of the mines 226 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Trip to the Yellow Kiver — " China's Sorrow " — Organization of the 
party — The route — The roads — The winter climate — The inns 
and inn-keepers — The old towns — The Grand Canal and its 
embankments — The sluices — Impracticability of keeping the 
canal open by Chinese methods — Necessity for a railway — The 
Yellow River and its embankments — Worship of the river-god 
= — Change of channel at Lung-mun-Kou in 1853 — Views of Dr. 
Williams and Ney Elias — Error of Abbe Hue — Probable cause 
of change — Embankments can be maintained — The river can 
be regulated and controlled by the resources of modern en- 
gineering — Railways can be built and maintained in the delta . 233 



xxii CONTEIfTS. 

CHAPTER XYII. 

PAGE 

Visit to the city of Kai-fung-fu — The immense number of wheelbar- 
rows on the road — The curiosity of the citizens — Difficulty of 
securing an inn — Inn-yard invaded by the mob — ^Yisit of the 
officials from the yamen — Mob finally driven out — Respectable 
merchant compelled to crawl out under the gate — Call of two 
young officials from the governor's yamen — Tung-ming district 
— Approach to the Shantung hills — Cross the Grand Canal at 
Chi-ning-Chou — Visit to Kii-fu, the home and burial-place of 
Confucius — The "Ever-Sacred Duke" and his descendants — 
The Grand Pavilion and grounds — The avenue — The Confucian 
cemetery — The tomb of the sage — Burning of the Confucian 
residence — Singular superstition in regard to it — Visit to Tai- 
shan, the sacred mountain of China — Ascent of the mountain 
— Beautiful scenery — Temples and shrines — Eeturn to the 
Grand Canal and journey to Chi-nan-fu — American Presbyterian 
mission — But few Christian converts — Superiority of technical 
instruction — Influence of war, commerce, and the missionaries 
■ — The city of Chi-nan-fu — The Yellow River again — Navigable 
from Chinau-fu to the sea — Chinese are ignorant of science in 
the work of controlling the floods — Journey back to Tientsin — 
Old embankments — The country — Mission at Pang-Chia-Chwang 
— Case of first convert — Chinese New- Year — Ancestral worship 
— New- Year's dinner — L^st in a dust-storm — Dreariness of the 
Great Plain — Not over-populated — Condition of the people — 
The Yellow River can be crossed by railroads — Return to 
Peking — Received by the Tsung-li Yamen .... 256 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Visit to Formosa — Description of the island — The inhabitants — 
The savages — Mountain-ranges — Camphor-wood — Eastern coast 
— Lack of harbors — Port of Kelung — Tamsui — City of Twatutia 
— The governor's yamen — Chang-hwa, the future capital — Val- 
leys of the Tamsui — Tea-plantations — Tea-culture — Energetic 
operations of Governor-General Liu Ming-Ch'uan — Foreigners 
in Formosa — Mats and opium-smoking — Houses in Formosa-— 
Prevalent diseases — Domestic animals — Climate — Future value 
of Formosa 295 



CONTENTS. xxiii 

CHAPTER XIX, 

PAGE 

Chinese system of education — Confined to classics, jurisprudence, 
and history — Influence upon the governing class and common 
people — The arrest of development — How China is to be pre- 
pared for the higher civilization — Substitution of Western sci- 
ences for the dry husks of their worn-out philosophy — The 
earliest communication with the Chinese by the Portuguese — ■ 
The Spaniards — The French — The Russians — The English— 
The East India Company — The Americans — The Chinese au= 
thorities have from the first sought to restrain trade — The 
period of small ships — The first Protestant missionaries — The 
attitude of the Chinese ofiicials in reference to trade — The 
hong-merchants — Lord Napier's refusal to confer with them — 
Action of the English merchants — The discussion at Peking — 
The opium-traffic — The Emperor's efforts to suppress it — Cap- 
tain Elliot — The destruction of the opium — The Opium War — 
The conclusion of peace — ^the Chinese concessions — The settle- 
ment of Hong-Kong — The influence of the war . . . 808 

CHAPTER XX. 

History of the Taiping rebellion again adverted to — The operation of 
the treaties — The rapid increase of trade — The establishment 
of the maritime customs under foreign management — The in- 
fluence of Canton and the Cantonese — The affair of the Chinese 
lorcha Arrow — The first and only diflScuIty with Americans — 
Demands of England, Russia, France, and the United States 
upon the Peking Government — The Emperor and court greatly 
alarmed — The practice and doctrine of co-operation — The allied 
fleets proceed to the Pei-ho — Negotiation — Signature of the 
treaties — Principal concessions — The affairs of the Taku forts 
— The British repulse — Return of the allies — Capture of the 
forts and the advance to Peking — Treaties ratified and ex- 
changed — Death of the Emperor Hien-fung — The regency — The 
influences surrounding the present Emperor — The necessity for 
Western education 331 

CHAPTER XXI. 
The rights of missionaries in China — The Tientsin massacre — The 
French and Russians indemnified — The influence of the mis- 



xxiv CONTENTS. 



sionaries generally minimized — Ancestral worship and supersti- 
tion — The practice of fung-shuy — The conversatism of the 
governing class — The censors — Chinese statesmen are progress- 
ing — The establishment of the Tung-wen College — The Bur- 
lingame mission — The Chinese students in America — Their 
recall — The Emperor all-powerful — Railways wanted by leading 
statesmen — Difficulties to be overcome — Probable solution of 
the question — The duty of our own Government — Impossible 
to predict when China will move — Surrounded by great perils 
— Russia's menacing position — The British Indian Empire — 
Their permanent interests — But little danger from Germany 
and France — The Chinese may perceive their real danger — 
Not a warlike people — Their true policy — The victories of 
peace . ...o ..... . 346 



h 



m^- 



I 



loaagLtuae East 173° £ccmL Waahinfflon. 177 ° 




CHINA: 

A STUDY OF ITS CIVILIZATION AND PEOGRESS. 



CHAPTER I. 



First visit to Japan — Genuine progress of the Japanese — Inland Sea — 
Eeturn to Japan-^The Nakasendo — Tokio — Received by the Em- 
peror — The palace — The ministers and attendants — The Emperor — 
Ceremonials — The emancipation of the Emperor from the domination 
of the Tycoon — Tifl&n at Uyeno Park — Dinner-party in Japanese 
style — Country-place and duck-pond — Gaishas — Wrestlers and wres- 
tling — Saki and health-drinking — Kissing an innovation — Excursions 
— The progress and civilization of the Japanese genuine — The gov- 
ernment and ministry — The governing class — Schools and colleges 
— Railroads — The prosperity of the people — Art and artisans — The 
original conservatism of the Japanese — The progressive movement 
— The Satusuma rebellion — The triumph of the progressive party — 
Acknowledgment of Japanese autonomy by the American Govern- 
ment — Treaty revision — No field for American railway-builders — 
Demand for American products — Delightful country for the traveler. 

I SHALL not detain the reader with a detailed account 
of Japan or its interesting features, for they have been 
carefully described by many travelers ; but I can not 
forbear recording my testimony in support of the genuine 
progress made by the Japanese people in all that pertains 
to modern civilization. During my first trip to that 
lovely and interesting country I hurriedly visited Yoko- 
hama, Tokio, Kobe, and Osaka, and sailed through the 
far-famed Inland Sea, which is certainly the most beauti- 
ful body of water and surrounded by the most enchant- 
ing scenery in the world. 
2 




^^ 



2 cnmA. 

Air, land, and sea were instinct with life and beauty 
on that never-to-be-forgotten voyage, and all conspired 
to fill my soul with sensations which were as novel as 
they were entrancing. On my return to Japan, eight 
months later, I found the natural charm of the coun- 
try heightened by the appearance of spring in all the 
glory of flowers and verdure, and all the delight of sweet 
perfumes and brilliant sunshine. Leaving my ship at 
Kobe, I made the journey by rail through Osaka and 
Kioto to Late Biwa, which I crossed by steamer to Naga- 
hama, where I took rail for the terminus at Sekigahara, 
twenty miles away. At this place I employed jinriJcshas 
and continued my Journey by the Nakasendo, or central 
mountain route, overland one hundred and fifty miles, 
through scenery of ever-varying beauty, to Yokogawa, 
where I again took the railroad for Takisake and Tokio. 
I spent nearly two weeks at the seat of government, 
during which I called upon Governor Hubbard, the 
American minister, the diplomatic representatives of the 
other foreign governments, and also upon the ministers 
and dignitaries of the Japanese Government. 

As a special mark of favor and consideration, I was 
also granted an audience by the Emperor, and was pre- 
sented to him by Governor Hubbard, in company with 
Mr. William H. Parker, our minister resident, and 
consul-general to Corea, and their respective secretaries, 
Mr. Mansfield and Mr. Travers. The chamberlain had 
designated eleven o'clock as the hour for the recep- 
tion, and we arrived at the palace at the appointed time. 
As required by the rules of etiquette, the ministers and 
their secretaries were clad in evening-dress, and I in the 
full uniform of a major-general. We were received by 
the under-ofiicials of the household at the outer door of 
the palace, a low and extensive wooden building of Japa- 
nese architecture, but furnished inside in mixed Eu- 



RECEIVED BY TEE EMPEROR OF JAPAK 3 

ropean and Japanese styles. The floor of the first room 
into which we were shown, and indeed of all the rooms 
and halls through which we passed, were covered with 
English Brussels carpets of neat designs, the windows 
were hung with J^ottingham lace curtains, some glazed and 
some being filled with transparent paper, but mostly with 
glass. European tables, chairs, bureaus, mirrors, and 
toilet articles were found in their appropriate places, while 
Japanese screens and bronzes constituted, as might have 
been expected, the principal "but by no means profuse 
decorations and ornaments of the various rooms. Having 
deposited our hats in the antechamber, we were escorted 
by oflScials in European livery through several long halls, 
at each turning of which we were saluted by a sentry, also 
clad in European uniform. 

On arriving at the outer reception or waiting room, 
we were joined by Count Ito, the Japanese prime minis- 
ter, by Count Enouye, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and 
by the grand chamberlain, a viscount of the old nobility, 
and several high officers of the household. The ministers 
were clad in Prince Albert coats, and trousers of lighter- 
colored materials, but all the officers of the household 
wore handsome cut-away coats, of the finest broadcloth, 
richly but modestly decorated with gold braid and gilt 
buttons. All of these gentlemen are exceedingly well- 
bred and courteous in manner and bearing, and several 
of them, including the two ministers, are men of distin- 
guished presence. They all speak English perfectly, ex- 
cept one or two who speak French, and it would be diffi- 
cult to find at any European court a set of high officials 
who bear themselves with greater ease and simplicity, or 
who appear to better advantage. 

After waiting a few minutes, which were spent in 
agreeable conversation, the chamberlain announced that 
"His Majesty the Emperor'' (they do not call him Mi- 



4 cnmA. 

kado or Tenno, in speaking of him to foreigners, but 
always the Emperor) was ready to receive us. Passing out 
into a broad hall, the side of which is composed of pa]3er 
windows, and through folding-doors, which were opened 
by servants in livery, we found ourselves in the audience- 
chamber, a plainly furnished but elegant room of low 
ceiliug, aud forty or fifty feet long, by about thirty wide. 
The Emperor, clad in a plain and not very neatly fitting 
hussar's uniform, was standing at the farther end, with 
his dress-sword hanging by his side and his cap in hand. 
The prime minister took position by his right side at 
once, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs at his left. 
The American minister, with Mr. Parker on his right, 
myself on his left, abreast, and the secretaries behind, ad- 
vanced slowly to within a few feet of His Majesty, all 
stopping three times to bow, and this was done with as 
much regularity and grace as possible without a pre- 
vious rehearsal. As soon as we came to the final halt, the 
chamberlain announced the American minister, where- 
upon the latter in a few but exceedingly well-chosen words 
presented Mr. Parker, myself, and the secretaries in turn. 
His remarks were translated by the prime minister into 
Japanese, for His Majesty speaks no English. The latter 
at once, in a low and hesitating voice, asked us in turn 
how long we had been in the country, and how long we 
should stay. He also wished us a pleasant time, and a 
safe journey to our respective destinations, all of which 
was translated as before by the prinie minister. Gov- 
ernor Hubbard then thanked His Majesty for the kind 
reception of his countrymen, and expressed the most cor- 
dial wishes for the welfare and happiness of His Majesty 
and the Japanese people. Immediately afterward we re- 
tired, walking backward, and pausing three times as be- 
fore to bow. 

The Emperor is of medium size, with heavy and 



EEGEIVED BY THE EMPEROR OF JAPAN. 5 

swarthy features, and an awkward figure, and does not 
appear to exhibit extraordinary ability in any direction, 
so far as I have heard, or could see in such a ceremony as 
I have just described. He seemed to be ill at ease, if not 
bored, by what he was going through. He did not, how- 
ever, require any prompting, and it is said is well in- 
formed, and takes an active and intelligent interest in 
the business of the government and of the empire. He is 
also said to be heartily in sympathy with the progressive 
movement which has characterized the later years of his 
reign. And this is quite natural, as it has rescued him 
from the conservative domination of the Tycoon, a sort 
of usurping mayor of the *palace, and put him in direct 
control of his empire and in contact with its leading men. 
Formerly he was never seen by any but the Tycoon and 
the members of his own household, and was treated in 
some degree as a mysterious state prisoner rather than as 
an emperor. Now he is the actual head of the govern- 
ment, surrounded by a responsible ministry, and in daily 
contact with the affairs of state. It is said that he likes 
to throw off the cares and dignity of his high position, 
and, like good Haroun-al-Easchid, wander about inform- 
ally and in disguise for his own information and amuse- 
ment. At all events, he does this occasionally, but 
when missed is speedily looked after, and returns quietly 
to his appropriate station and duties. 

After the reception, I changed my uniform for citizen's 
dress, and in company with Governor Hubbard, took 
breakfast, or tiffin, as it is called in China and Japan, with 
Admiral Enomotto, at Uyeno Park. Count Oyama, Sec- 
retary of State for War, and several of the under-secre- 
taries, were also present. The meal was prepared and 
served in the best French style, and was made particu- 
larly interesting by the intelligence, refinement, and good 
taste of the host, who was educated in Holland, speaks 



6 CHINA. 

English perfectly, and as a naval officer has visited nearly 
all foreign countries. He is a statesman of marked abil- 
ity and great influence, and as Minister of State for Com- 
munications, has special charge of railroads and steamship 
lines, so far as they are dealt with and controlled by the 
Government. 

After tiffin, I drove to the residence of a private 
Japanese gentleman of great wealth, who had invited me 
to an entertainment strictly in the Japanese style. I ar- 
rived at his house at three o'clock, and was received by 
his servants at the vestibule. They indicated to me that 
I was expected to take off my shoes before entering the 
inner rooms, and this I did at once, but, as the Japanese 
slippers are kept upon the foot by a band passing between 
the big toe and the one next to it, and over the instep, 
and as foreign socks are not made with a separate com- 
partment like the Japanese for the big toe, I could not 
wear the slippers which were offered, and was compelled 
to go in in my sock-feet. 

After passing through several rooms, all floored with 
beautiful straw mats, soft and yielding to the feet, and 
scrupulously clean, I came to the principal room of the 
house, at the entrance of which I was met by my host, 
who welcomed me in excellent English. He had learned 
it at school in Connecticut, and had been compelled to 
keep it up in connection with the business of the steam- 
^ship company, which his elder brother had established. 
He showed me at once to a silken cushion on the floor, 
and, seating himself by my side, made himself very agree- 
able and by his genuine politeness and hospitality put 
me entirely at my ease. 

After the usual civilities, and the arrival of another 
guest whom he had invited to meet me, his carriage, 
drawn by an exceedingly stylish pair of blood -bay, half- 
bred horses, with driver and footman in foreign livery. 



DINNER-PARTY IN JAPANESE STYLE. 7 

made its appearance. Inviting us to accompany him, 
we were driyen to the outskirts of the city to his coun- 
try-place, which is planted with a great assortment of 
American and native forest-trees, in the midst of which 
he is building a beautiful house designed by American 
architects. Near by, but beyond a piece of wood, in a 
quiet corner of the estate, which is something over a 
hundred acres in extent, we came to a duck-pond, which, 
upon insj)ection, proved to be very interesting, and may 
contain a lesson for the proprietors of islands on our 
Southern coast, visited by wild fowl. 

The pond is of irregular shape, and covers five or six 
acres. It is surrounded by an embankment or parapet 
six or seven feet high, sodded and planted with young 
trees. At intervals of forty or fifty feet, small canals, 
about five feet wide at the water surface, lead out from 
the pond. They leave the margin on a curved line, so 
that a duck which is swimming about can not see into 
the canal, the inner sides of which are quite steep. These 
canals are bordered by an embankment high enough to 
conceal a man stooping down behind it, and are termi- 
nated by a screen at the outer end, and this screen, which 
is made of poles or bamboo, is pierced by peep-holes, and 
also by a bamboo pipe, down which grain may be poured. 
At the proper season the pond is studded with decoys, 
and baited with grain. A man takes his place behind 
each screen, and is accompanied by two assistants, each 
of whom is armed with a fowler's net. No shooting or 
shouting is allowed about the pond, and, when the wild 
ducks fly over, they are lured to alight, and go to feeding 
at once. Hunting about for food and finding it more 
plentiful near the little canals which they follow till 
well up toward the screens, where they find it in still 
greater abundance, as soon as the canal has enough 
birds in it to satisfy the screen-man, he sends his assist- 



8 CHINA. 

ants out on either side, behind the embankments, to 
scoop up the birds with their nets as they rise from the 
surface of the water. Over six thousand ducks were 
taken in that way from the pond last winter. I could 
not suppress the thought that this method of capturirg 
wild-fowl is unsportsmanlike, but it is certainly effect- 
ive, where the arrangements and conditions are favor- 
able. 

Eeturning to the house of our host in the city, the 
real entertainment began. Taking off our boots, we 
again seated ourselyes on the silk cushions spread out on 
the floor. Our host's wife, a dignified but modest, sweet- 
looking lady, clad in a rich but subdued native costume, 
and two bright little boys, came in. The latter prostrated 
themselves in a yery pretty manner before their papa, 
and then took their seats on silk cushions near their 
mamma. Almost immediately afterward, six or eight 
gaisJias, or dancing and singing girls, elegantly and gayly 
clad, and each carrying a samizen — a stringed instrument 
something like a banjo — made their appearance and seated 
themselves with the family and guests on the floor. Tea 
was at once brought in. All one side of the room con- 
sisted of sliding windows covered with translucent paper, 
and these were pushed hack, so as to reveal a beautiful, 
well-kept lawn, in the middle of which was a fourteen- 
foot ring of clean white sand, with all the necessary ar- 
rangements for a wrestling-match. 

In a few minutes a gang of fourteen brawny wres- 
tlers, entirely nude, except for loin-cloths and strong 
leather belts, marched in and took their places negli- 
gently about the ring. All of them except one or two, 
were quite fat, and most of them were nearly six feet 
high, and weighed over two hundred pounds. At a sig- 
nal given by one of their number, acting as umpire, 
two of them stepped into the ring, and, after the usual 



DINNER-PARTY IN JAPANESE STYLE. 9 

feints and manoenvres for position and advantage, rose 
from their first crouching position, and seized each other 
shoulder and elbow, or by the belt, and then went at it 
with all their might to see which could throw the other or 
push him out of the ring. The matches were conducted 
with great caution and deliberation for half an hour or 
so. Odati San and Saruna San, the two great cham- 
pions of the empire, and a number of rising younger 
men, were on the ground, and took part in the struggles, 
which abounded in surprising feats of skill and muscular 
strength, and lasted for about an hour and a half. After 
the regular matches were over, and the champions had 
with due deliberation shown their superiority over all 
comers, each successful wrestler was in turn compelled to 
maintain his position against the others one at a time, 
till he was thrown, and then the new victor had to go 
through the same ordeal. This gave rise to a most excit- 
ing series of struggles, following each other with great 
rapidity, and calling forth from the spectators, foreign as 
well as native, the most enthusiastic applause. 

The hostess and her servants, as well as the children 
and the gaishas, seemed to be as much interested in the 
sport as the host and his guests, and were surprisingly quick 
to detect the fine points in the wrestling of their favorites. 
The exhibition was wound up by a series of exercises such 
as are taken by the wrestlers while they are in training. 
The one most practiced seemed to be for one of the 
younger and lighter men to ask an older and heavier one 
to lend him his breast, and then seizing the obliging fel- 
low by the elbows, would throw himself head first, with 
all the strength of his arms, hack, and neck, against the 
breast he had borrowed. The noise of the blows which 
followed each other with surprising rapidity, could be 
heard a hundred yards away. It seemed as though they 
would pound the breath out of the man who received 



10 CHINA. 

them, but, instead of doing that, they soon exhausted the 
one who was delivering them, and then the big fellow, 
with wide-stretched legs, standing like a rock, and watch- 
ing for his opportunity, with a dexterous jerk and a sud- 
den twist, would break the grip of his antagonist and 
toss him out of the ring flat on his back, as though he 
were a bag of India-rubber. Notwithstanding the fat- 
ness of the men, it was eyident they were in excellent 
condition, and had not only great strength and skill, but 
great staying powers. Their jollity and good nature were 
particularly noticeable. Not one of them lost his tem- 
per, though they were all yery roughly handled. It is 
evident that the champions, who are great favorites at 
home, are very much superior to the wrestlers who have 
gone abroad, and from their great weight, strength, and 
skill, would probably prove a match for the best foreign 
wrestlers. 

At the conclusion of the wrestling, the windows were 
closed, lights brought in, and dinner served. It consisted 
of a great number of little dishes, of fowl, fish, rice, and 
other vegetables, the jnost of which were very good, and 
all of which were perfectly prepared. They were spread 
out on the mats, around each guest, and within easy 
reach. No particular order is observed in eating them, 
though they are not all brought in at once, but after a 
dish makes its appearance it is not sent away till the feast 
is over. Each guest has his own dishes exclusively, and 
is attended by a gaisha, whose business it is to see that he 
wants for nothing. She passes whatever he requires, and 
it is her special duty to see that his little porcelain cup is 
kept well filled with saki, a light sort of wine, distilled 
from rice, and not very unlike weak sherry. During the 
pauses of the dinner the gaishas, separately or all together, 
sing and play accompaniments on their samizens. Or, 
if the guests become tired of music, the gaishas entertain 



DINNER-PAETY IN JAPANESE STYLE. H 

such as can understand them hy chatting and telling 
stories. They also play little games, and generally do 
their best to make the party gay and lively. These girls 
are selected for their beauty and wit, and are specially 
educated for this calling, which is an honorable one. 

A Japanese lady of rank (adhering to the old cus- 
toms of the country) is never seen by strangers, and is 
not expected to entertain her husband's guests. She 
sees that his house is properly ordered, and that her own 
servants properly prepare and serve the feast, but the 
task of entertaining the company devolves upon the gai- 
shas, who are hired for the occasion. In doing this she 
comes and goes as she thinks necessary, but does not take 
a seat among the guests. It is, however, customary for 
her, as well as for the host, to drink a cup of saki with 
each of her guests, and especially with the most distin- 
guished one. In doing this she kneels with gravity and 
dignity in front of the guest she intends to honor, and, 
after bowing almost to the floor, she reaches for his por- 
celain cup which he passes to her, after first carefully 
rinsing it in a bowl of clean water furnished for that pur- 
pose. She then turns to the gaisha, who fills it with saki ; 
then, looking at the guest and bowing again as profoundly 
as before, she drains the cup and passes it back to him. 
After pausing for a moment, she rises and returns to a 
seat near her husband, and then custom requires that the 
guest thus honored shall in turn visit and kneel before 
her, and with the same ceremony drink her health from 
her own cup. 

Toward the end of the dinner, which lasted for three 
hours, the three principal wrestlers were brought in and 
served with as much ceremony as though they had been 
distinguished guests. They were beautifully clad in fresh 
garments, and had evidently just come from the bath. 
After they had got well into their meal, which they seemed 



12 CHINA, 

to relish highly, and the guests had nearly finished, the 
gaishas and several of the guests began a game of forfeits, 
of which the Japanese are quite fond. It is played by 
couples, each member of which breaks a chopstick into 
three pieces, and then conceals one, two, or three pieces, 
or none, as the case may be, in the hand. Each player 
thrusts his hand forward and asks how many, when both 
guess how many pieces are concealed in the two hands of 
the couple. Of course, there may be all the way from 
none to six pieces. If neither player guesses correctly, 
the hands are again concealed behind the back or up the 
flowing sleeye, and then thrust forward with the old ques- 
tion, and both make new guesses. This is kept up till 
one of the players guesses the right number, and the other 
is declared to be the loser. The latter pays the forfeit by 
drinking a cup of saki. An amusing variation of the 
game, now coming into vogue, is to substitute kisses for 
saki, and this was done with one of the foreign guests at 
the express command of the hostess, who told the young- 
est and most winsome of the gaishas that if she continued 
to play, and did not care to drink, she must kiss ; and, 
as kissing is a foreign innovation upon Japanese cus- 
toms, her payment and acceptance of the forfeits were 
very amusing to both natives and foreigners. Her coy- 
ness and awkwardness combined were irresistible, and 
each exhibition of them was received with peals of 
laughter. 

The wrestlers saw that there was a good deal of fun 
going on with the foreigners, and, not to be left out, they 
went visiting also ; but, as they were very big fellows, the 
foreigners declined to play with them unless they would 
omit the kissing, and drink three measures of saki for 
each forfeit. They accepted this new innovation with 
great glee, and seemed to like it immensely. Altogether, 
the evening was a novel and pleasant one ; the fun was kept 



JAPANESE PROQRESS GENUINE, 13 

up till ten o'clock, at which hour the foreigners had to 
return to Yokohama. The host, hostess, and little boys 
were charming in their unaffected simplicity ; and, as all 
but the host and the foreigners were clad in Japanese cos- 
tumes, spoke the Japanese language, and behaved them- 
selves strictly in accordance with Japanese etiquette, the 
entertainment was a bit out of real Japanese life long to 
be remembered by those who took part in it. 

I spent nearly two months, altogether, in Japan, dur- 
ing which I visited most of the places of interest, and 
especially Mkko, Ohiusenji, Nantaisan, and the mount- 
ain country in the neighboring region. I inspected the 
farms, workshops, tea-curing warehouses, silk-shops, and 
attended fairs and public exhibitions of all sorts ; and 
generally had an excellent opportunity to see the inside 
of the country, and to study its people and government 
just as they are. 

After the most careful consideration, I feel it to be 
my duty to dissent from the carping, fault-finding dis- 
position which has prompted more than one traveler to 
say that Japan has progressed too rapidly, that she has 
adopted the manners and customs of foreigners without 
understanding them, and has organized armies, laid out 
fortifications, and built ships of war, without needing or 
knowing how to use them. The truth is quite different 
from all this. The civilization of the Japanese is genu- 
ine, and the progress they have made is as real as it is 
surprising. 

Their government is in theory an absolute monarchy, 
with a strong tendency toward liberal and constitu- 
tional forms. As might naturally be supposed, the im- 
perial family, claiming an unbroken descent and con- 
tinuous occupancy of the throne from 200 years b. c. 
is in some degree effete ; but the actual government is in 
the hands of the ministers of state, and they are an un- 



14 cnmA. 

usually clever set of men, most of wliom, as well as nearly 
all of their assistants, have been educated in Europe or 
America. They do not generally belong to the old nobil- 
ity, but to that class which has managed the business of 
the old nobility as well as of the country for several hun- 
dred years. They are strong, vigorous, and capable, and 
seem to possess as much patriotism and practical business 
sense as the statesmen of the most progressive countries. 

Judging from the manifold external evidences, and 
from information derived from gentlemen long resident 
in the country and more or less intimately connected 
with its public affairs, I can not doubt that the min- 
isters are conducting the Japanese government with as 
much wisdom, honesty, and fidelity as are to be found 
elsewhere. They are progressive, yet at the same time 
cautious and conservative. They have established edu- 
cation on a solid basis throughout the empire. The 
school-house, with all the appliances of modern instruc- 
tion, is seen in every town and village ; while colleges 
and universities have been founded in sufficient numbers 
to furnish a higher education to such as require it. Law- 
yers, doctors, and engineers, educated both at home and 
abroad, are found in all the principal cities. Peace and 
plenty abound, and happiness prevails. 

About four hundred miles of railroad have been con- 
structed, from Kobe, Yokohama, and Suruga the principal 
seaports, to the interior, mostly under English guidance, 
aud while an American can not help regretting that they 
were not built to the standard instead of to the three-feet 
six-inch gauge, and with all the modern improvements in- 
stead of the antiquated and awkward details which char- 
acterize English railroad practice, they are solidly con- 
structed and generally well managed. But few foreigners 
are now employed about them, and it is quite certain that 
such future extensions as may be made of the railway 



JAPANESE PROGRESS GENUINE. 15 

system will not only be made under the control of native 
engineers and contractors, but will cost, under like con- 
ditions, far less per mile than the roads now in existence. 

The people in every part of the empire are in a fairly 
prosperous condition, and, although far from rich at pres- 
ent, it can not be doubted will become richer in buildings, 
and comforts of every sort, with every year that passes 
over them. The arts which have specially characterized 
them are said by some to be on the decline, but this state- 
ment does not seem to rest on any sufficient observation 
or study of the facts, and I strongly doubt its truth. It 
is evident that Japanese life has undergone a great 
change. The cost of living is perhaps greater than it 
used to be, but the artisan is not only more comfortable 
and better educated than in the old days, but happier 
and freer, while the results of his handicraft, somewhat 
modified, perhaps, by foreign ideas and influences, find a 
readier and a better market now than at any time in the 
past. Whatever is genuinely good and true in Japanese 
art may be looked for hereafter, I do not doubt, with as 
much confidence as ever. 

Humanity is essentially the same in all countries, 
and may be expected to progress in Japan, as well as 
in America, toward a higher and a better civilization. 
At the time of Commodore Perry's visit, in 1854, there 
was no country in the world more averse to foreigners 
or more bitterly opposed to foreign arts and civiliza- 
tion than the Japanese. They were satisfied with them- 
selves, and regarded their own arts and civilization as 
the best in the world. They wanted no intercourse with 
other nations, and did all in their power to resist for- 
eign encroachments upon their own exclusiveness and re- 
serve, but the foreign powers would not be turned away. 
Their steamships and men-of-war could not be withstood. 
Their diplomacy and their arms broke down the barriers 



16 CEINA, 

to trade, and, with trade, new ideas and a new civiliza- 
tion invaded the Japanese Islands. These were followed 
by a new impulse among the governing class. A pro- 
gressive party sprang up. The conservatives became 
alarmed, and strove with all their might to resist the 
march of modern progress. A war broke out between the 
contending parties, and, after the expenditure of much 
blood and treasure, ended, as all such wars have ended in 
modern times — the conservatives were beaten, and prog- 
ress became the watchword of the day. So far, nothing 
but good has resulted. The nation has surrendered its 
exclusiveness, laid aside its old customs and prejudices, 
and taken on a higher civilization. It has been more or 
less under diplomatic tutelage to the older powers, who 
have co-operated with each other in carrying out a policy 
of commercial aggression, and in exercising extra-territo- 
rial control over their own citizens residing in Japan. 

For many years the representative of the United 
States, under instructions from Washington, has declined 
to co-operate with the representatives of other powers, 
and upon more than one occasion has recognized the ab- 
solute autonomy and independence of the Japanese Em- 
pire. As our Government was the first in modern times 
to open diplomatic intercourse, and to insist upon the 
establishment of commercial relations with the Japanese, 
it has also been the first to recognize them as a civilized 
people with a Government of the highest rank, possessing 
all the attributes, and entitled to exercise all the privileges 
of complete sovereignty. A convention of duly accredited 
representatives from all the treaty powers is now in session 
at Tokio, for the purpose of revising the treaties on the 
basis of such recognition, and it is understood that all 
the powers are agreed in admitting the substantial justice 
of the Japanese demands . It is now an open secret that the 
practice of co-operation between the treaty powers will be 



REVISION OF THE TREATIES. 17 

abandoned, and that, in lieu of consular courts and extra- 
territorial control over foreigners, a system of Japanese 
courts presided over by foreign judges will be substituted. 
The whole country will be thrown open to foreigners, 
with the privilege of owning property and residing and 
trading wherever they please. As a matter of necessity, 
a higher tariff on foreign imports will be levied and col- 
lected, but as the present rate is an ad-valorem assessment 
of only five per cent on all classes of merchandise, a ma- 
terial advance may be made on many articles without 
seriously crippling foreign commerce. Petroleum con- 
stitutes the principal item of import from the United 
States, and it is conceded by those engaged in the trade 
that a tax at least two and a half times greater than that 
now in force can be levied without detriment to their in- 
terests.* 

From careful investigation I am persuaded that there 
is no great field in Japan for the employment of American 
engineers and contractors on railway-work, but American 
manufacturers of bridges, locomotives, and cars should 
control that market against the rest of the world. It is 
also probable that American architects and contractors 
for harbor-works may find profitable employment in Ja- 
pan if they are properly represented ; and it is certain 
that, as the Japanese advance in civilization and wealth, 
they will require a greater assortment of our products 
and manufactures, and will send us more and more of 
their own. They are exceedingly friendly to us, and, so 
far as the commercial conditions prevailing from time to 
time will permit, they will gladly extend their trade 
with us. 

There is no country under the sun in which the trav- 

* Since the foregoing was written the convention has dissolved, and 
treaty revision seems to be indefinitely postponed. 



18 CHINA. 

eler can enjoy himself with more unalloyed satisfaction 
and delight. . The climate is salubrious, the scenery beau- 
tiful and ever varying, the people cleanly, hospitable, and 
genuinely polite to strangers ; and these, together with the 
mingling of the old and the new civilizations, are such as 
to fill the foreigner with more novel and exhilarating 
sensations than he can possibly experience in any other 
country. For the young and vigorous, three months will 
be sufficient in which to make the trip from New York 
via San Francisco to Japan and back, and allow five or 
six weeks for inland travel ; but, for such as have the 
time, whether young or old, six months will not prove to 
be too much. The sail through the Inland Sea is alone 
worth the trouble and expense of the voyage from Amer- 
ica, and to such as visit China it constitutes a most 
charming break in the tedium of life on shipboard. 



CHAPTEE 11. 

Voyage througli the Inland Sea — Mouth of the Yang-tse-kiang — The 
Wusung Eiver — Shanghai — Foreign and Chinese city contrasted — 
Chinese civilization — Ward and the Taiping rebellion — Li Hung- 
Chang and Tseng Quo-Fan — Future importance of Shanghai. 

The Yoyage from Yokohama through the Inland Sea, 
and across the Yellow Sea to Shanghai, including the 
stops at Kobe, Simonoseki, and Nagasaki, requires about 
a week ; but, as the steamers belonging to the Nippon 
Yusen Kaisha (Japanese Mail Steamship Company) are 
new and exceedingly well-of&cered and found, and as the 
scenery fills one with an ever-yarying sense of delight, 
the time passes only too rapidly, especially if the weather 
is fine, as is frequently the case. 

The approach to the mouth of the stately Yang-tse- 
kiang is indicated many miles at sea by the yellow, 
muddy water which is poured out in such ceaseless 
abundance by that magnificent river. The first land 
which the expectant traveler catches sight of is Gutz- 
laff, a rocky island rising sheer and bare from the water, 
and surmounted by a lighthouse, erected and maintained 
by the Imperial Chinese Maritime Customs. This light is 
about forty miles from the mainland, which looms upon 
the sight in a low, flat, unbroken outline, in two or three 
hours after the light is left behind. As the ship enters 
the broad and muddy estuary, the shore grows more dis- 
tinct, but as it rises only a few feet above the water, and 
is fringed by reeds and low straggling willows along 



20 CHINA. 

the margin, a feeling of disappointment overcomes the 
voyager, and this remains with him dnring all his jonr- 
neyings throughout the delta plains, however extensive 
they may be. 

The first signs of settlement and occupation are met 
with at the entrance to the Wusung Eiver, where there 
is a large village and strong and extensive though rudely 
constructed earthworks, mounting many heavy guns of 
European make. 

Shanghai, the principal seaport and commercial entre- 
pot of China, is situated on a great bend of the Wu- 
sung, twelve miles from its confluence with the Yang-tse. 
It is divided into the Chinese and foreign cities, the for- 
mer of which is said to contain a population of a million 
souls, and the latter less than eight thousand, not count- 
ing native servants and retainers. 

Nowhere else in the world can Chinese and foreign 
civilization be more easily compared and contrasted. 
Here they are seen side by side, separated only by an 
old city wall of burned brick, built in the middle ages, 
pierced with gates, surmounted by turrets and crenelated 
parapets, and surrounded by moats seething with fever 
and filth. On one side are struggling and sordid multi- 
tudes, living in low, tumble-down, and decaying mud or 
half-burned brick huts. The streets are teeming with 
dust, dirt, or slush, as the case may be, and crowded day 
and night with a ceaseless flow of indigent, but, so far 
as one can see, contented human beings, all busily en- 
gaged in the sordid struggle of life. There is nothing 
neat, or well built, or permanent. Everything seems 
stricken by decrepitude and decay, and it is the same 
everywhere else in China. Nothing except city walls and 
river embankments is solid, or strong, or durable, and 
nothing seems ever to have been repaired or cleaned. 
Whatever is worn out or worthless is thrown into the 



SHANGHAI. 21 

street along with the offal of the household. Stagnant 
water stands in ponds and pools, until lapped up by the 
sun or blown away by drying winds. It is all inconceiv- 
ably squalid and offensive to foreign eyes and nostrils, 
and fills the foreign soul with a sentiment of unutterable 
disgust. 

The river-front is lined with junks in countless num- 
bers, and the surface of the water is covered with sam- 
pans and house-boats passing to and fro. 

On the hither side of the wall is a small, compact, 
and well-selected population of Europeans and Ameri- 
cans, surrounded by every luxury and comfort, and pos- 
sessing all the elements of the highest civilization and 
refinement. They are well clad, well mounted, and well 
housed. Their warehouses, shops, banks, and residences 
would do credit to New York or Paris. Their streets 
are well paved and beautifully kept. Cleanliness, order, 
and propriety prevail, and everything shows that they 
have come to stay. They have clubs, race-courses, tennis- 
grounds, gardens, theatres, libraries, and churches. They 
ride across-country, have dinner and dancing parties, and 
generally have carried with them to that remote river- 
side the industry, the thrift, and the enterprise, as well 
as the luxuries and the elegancies, of a higher and a bet- 
ter civilization. And, what is more to the purpose, they 
have paid for all their luxuries and comforts with the 
money they have earned out of the business of the coun- 
try in which they have cast their lot. 

The river in front of the foreign city is filled with 
stately sail and steamships from every port in the world ; 
its shores are furnished with docks, foundries, and ship- 
yards ; and nothing more aptly illustrates the difference 
between foreign and Chinese civilization than the con- 
trast between the iron steamship of to-day and the wooden 
junk which constitutes now, as it did a thousand years 



22 CHINA. 

ago, the Chinaman's sole means of nayigating the sea. 
In the foreign settlement all is bustle, enterprise, and 
progress. In the native city all is sloth, squalor, and 
arrested development. The foreigner li^es in the present 
and looks to the future, and is full of vigor and hope ; 
the Chinaman lives in the present, and looks only to the 
past, and is satisfied if only his daily wants are supplied. 
He seems to the casual observer to have no aspiration, 
and to care for nothing but himself. With him every- 
thing is settled and fixed, and the thought of change 
fills him with apprehension. But farther on I shall en- 
deavor to show that appearances are deceptive, and that 
the Chinaman, after all, is subject to the same natural 
laws and has the same wants as other members of the 
human race, and differs from the others solely by virtue 
of the isolation under which his civilization was evolved, 
and by the circumstances under which it now exists. 
John Stuart Mill once wrote that no one could properly 
say what is natural to woman till she has been long enough 
emancipated to show her true instinct and character ; and 
the same may be quite as truthfully predicated of the 
Chinaman. He is bdtind and hedged in now, as in the 
past, by a settled and inelastic system of civilization which 
came down from and is sanctified by antiquity. It regu- 
lates and controls every thought and action, from birth to 
death, and he can no more change it of his own volition 
than a stone can overcome or annihilate its own weight. 
And yet change has made its appearance, and nowhere in 
a more attractive form than at Shanghai, and it will con- 
tinue to exert itself till China has resumed her natural 
process of development, and has taken on a higher and a 
better civilization. Progress has plarjted her foot firmly 
on the banks of the Wusung, and, from her safe abiding- 
place in the foreign city, is sure, slowly but inevitably, to 
invade and overcome the whole vast empire. 



8HAN0HAL 23 

As Shanghai is situated near the month of the Yang- 
tse-kiang, the great river which divides the country east 
and west into nearly equal parts, and is navigable for steam- 
ships of the largest tonnage over a thousand miles, and 
for steamboats of good size to the heart of the western 
provinces, it is probable that it will always remain, as it is 
now, the chief commercial city of the empire. It has 
been within the recent past the center of progressive ideas 
and influences, and so may be expected to remain indefi- 
nitely in the future. It was here that the Taiping rebel- 
lion, to which I will refer more fully hereafter, received 
its first serious check at the hands of the foreign mer- 
chants, who, on the approach of danger, organized a com- 
pany of foreign soldiers for their own protection, and put 
it under the command of Ward, an American sailor. This 
company afterward became the nucleus of the Ever-Vic- 
torious Army which, under the leadership, organization, 
and impulse given it by Ward, became the most potential 
factor in suppressing the rebellion and restoring peace 
and quiet to the empire. The moral and political purpose 
which lay behind it came from the foreign merchants, 
who in turn influenced the diplomatic agents of their re- 
spective governments, and ultimately controlled their na- 
val and military forces. 

The rebellion broke out in 1850, and continued with 
varying success till 1864. It swept over nearly two 
thirds of the empire, and is said to have resulted in 
the death of ten million Chinamen. As Hungtse-Chu- 
en, the leader of the rebellion, claimed to be a Chris- 
tian, and actually practiced a vague and uncertain sort 
of Christianity somewhat like Mormonism, his prog- 
ress was viewed at first by the foreigners with favor. 
They knew that the Imperial Government was intolerant 
and illiberal, and felt that any change must be for the 
better. It was not till the rebels invaded the resrion 



24 . CHINA. 

round about Shanghai, aiid actually threatened that place, 
that the foreign merchants discovered the falsity of Hung- 
tse-Ohuen's Christianity, and the corruption of his goy- 
ernment, and became convinced of the superiority of 
the existing government at Peking over any that might 
be established by the rebels on its ruins. Having made 
this discovery, they no longer hesitated to lend their coun- 
tenance and influence to the imperial cause. The war 
for the suppression of the rebellion took on new vigor, 
and it was during this, its closing stage, that the imperial 
commanders Li Hung- Chang and Tseng Quo-Fan, father 
of the Marquis Tseng, until recently the Chinese ambas- 
sador to Europe, were thrown constantly in contact with 
foreigners, and especially with Cordon, who had succeeded 
Ward in command of the Ever- Victorious Army. And 
it was the contact with foreigners, and the demonstration 
of the superiority of foreign arms and organization in 
actual warfare, which, followed up as it was by years of 
intimate acquaintance with foreign consuls, ministers, 
commissioners, merchants, and men of business, that have 
made Li Hung-Chang, now holding the position of First 
Grand Secretary of tlie Empire, Viceroy of Chihli (the 
metropolitan province), and Northern Superintendent of 
Trade, besides many other dignities and honors, the fore- 
most and most progressive statesman and probably the 
most powerful subject of the Chinese throne. 

The primacy and importance of Shanghai as a base of 
political and progressive ideas, as well as of commerce, 
should therefore be kept constantly in view by those who 
would understand the probable course of the newer civili- 
zation in China. However great its influence has been in 
the past, it may be confidently expected to become even 
greater hereafter. It is of course difficult to foretell the 
future with accuracy ; but if Shanghai were situated on 
the Yang-tse itself, instead of twelve miles away from it, 



SHANGHAI. 25 

and somewhat farther from the sea than it is, it would 
certainly become the future political capital of the em- 
pire, as well as its commercial emporium. And notwith- 
standing its somewhat eccentric position, and the obvious 
fact that the old capital of the Ming dynasty, and perhaps 
other places farther up the Yang-tse, are better situated 
for defense, it is entirely possible that some future revo- 
lution, if not the operation of purely commercial influ- 
ences, may cause it to be selected as the seat of govern- 
ment of a native dynasty and of an awakened and progress- 
ive empire. But, whatever may be its future, will be due, 
directly or indirectly, to the guiding impulse given it by 
the eight thousand souls of the imperial white race re- 
siding in the foreign settlement, rather than to the brute 
force of the toiling millions of Turanians swarming with- 
in the crumbling walls of the Chinese city. 



CHAPTER III. 

Area of China — Reached its greatest extent under Kublai Khan — Almost 
as great under the late Regent — China's isolated position — Approach 
of railroads toward western border — Communication by steamships — 
Civilization different from any other — Origin of names of country — 
Provinces — Climate — Surface — Hwang-ho, or Yellow River — Delta, 
or Great Plain — Inundations — Embankments — Change of river-bed. 

Ik order that a definite conception may be had of 
China, as it was and is, it should be borne in mind that 
with the exception of Eussia, it is the largest empire that 
has ever existed. It occupies nearly the whole of Eastern 
and Southeastern Asia, and lies in a regular, compact, 
and unbroken mass of conterminous subdiyisions and out- 
lying territories. lb is composed of the original eight- 
een proyinces corresponding to our States, and constitut- 
ing what is generally described by geographers as China 
Proper, but sometimes as the ^^ Middle Kingdom," together 
with the outlying and encircling possessions of Manchu- 
ria, Inner and Outer Mongolia, Hi, or Chinese Turkis- 
tan, Koko-Nor, and Thibet. The Goyernment claims 
suzerainty oyer and receiyes tribute more or less regularly 
from Corea, and also from Anam, Siam, Burmah, and part 
of the Loochoo Islands, and it has recently erected the 
beautiful and extensiye Island of Formosa, or Taiwan, hith- 
erto attached to the province of Fo-Kien, into a separate 
province with its own governor-general who, like those of 
the other provinces, is appointed directly from Peking. 



AREA OF CHINESE EMPIRE. 27 

Including Formosa, it really has nineteen provinces, con- 
stituting the body of an empire the outer boundaries of 
which inclose one third of the Continent of Asia, or an 
area of at least 5,000,000 square miles.;. In yiew of the 
present condition of geographical knowledge, it is not 
possible to estimate this enormous extent of territory ac- 
curately, but, according to Balbi, it is equal to 5,126,000 
square miles, while Berghaus gives it at about 5,600,000, 
or nearly one tenth of the habitable globe. The nineteen 
provinces, covering an area of about 1,800,000 square 
miles, are all densely populated by the Chinese, but the 
outlying dependencies which are of far greater extent, 
are mostly arid, elevated table-lands, occupied generally 
by nomadic and pastoral tribes commonly known as Tar- 
tars, thinly scattered over an almost illimitable succession 
of plain, desert, and mountain country. 

The empire attained its greatest extent about the year 
1290 A. D., under Kublai Khan, the son of Genghis, the 
great conquering Tartar chieftain, and at that time 
reached from the borders of the sea westward to and be- 
yond that vague and impassable region in Central Asia 
impressively designated as the '^roof of the world." Por- 
tions of these border-lands of varying width, and extend- 
ing from British India, across the descending slopes of 
Thibet and Sungaria to the Desert of Gobi, the valley of 
the Amur, and along the latter to the Sea of Okhotsk, 
have at times been wrested from the control of the Chi- 
nese emperors. In the middle ages these desert wastes 
were the home of the conquering Tartars and Manchus, 
and were either maintained in their independence, or be- 
came a part of the Chinese Empire because their chief- 
tains became Chinese emperors. In later years, the 
French on the south, the English on the south and west, 
and the Eussians on the northwest and north, have been 
pressing forward with ever-increasing persistency, subju- 



28 cnmA. 

gating the dependencies and tribes who were doubtful in 
their loyalty, occupying disputed territory, and restrain- 
ing the Chinese authority within definite limits. Siam, 
Anam, and Burmah, have been entirely detached ; Tur- 
kistan has been divided, and vast tracts in Outer Mongolia 
and Manchuria have been permanently occupied by the 
advancing Europeans. The dependence of Corea upon the 
Peking Government has also been threatened, and yet the 
integrity of the empire has not been materially disturbed. 
Under the comparatively wise and vigorous administra- 
tion of the late Empress Eegent, the throne has been 
strengthened, peace established throughout the country, 
and the sway of the central power extended to the re- 
motest tribes and dependencies. The limits of the em- 
pire are better defined than ever before, and, notwith- 
standing the encroachments from without, the imperial 
authority is probably stronger and more widely respected 
now than at any time since the reign of Kublai Khan. 

Although a country of such vast extent, China has 
always been nearly as completely isolated as an unknown 
island. Surrounded as it is on the land-side by deserts 
and trackless wastes, hundreds and at places almost 
thousands of miles wide, no certain or regular communi- 
cation between it and Europe could be had either for 
commerce or intelligence. From the dawn of history 
down to the beginning of this century, only one great 
traveler, Marco Polo, ever succeeded in crossing Asia and 
reaching China, or in giving to the world an intelligible 
account of what he saw, and even he found it necessary, 
after eighteen years of wandering, to return to Venice, 
his native city, by sea. An occasional merchant may have 
preceded him or followed in his tracks, but they were 
so few and far between that they produced no impres- 
sion whatever upon the Chinese or their civilization. 

The utter impassability of the steppes and wastes 



ISOLATION OF CHINA, 29 

lying between Southeastern Europe and the thickly-set- 
tled portions of China, except by the appliances of mod- 
ern travel, or by the nomadic and semi-barbarous hordes 
which occupied them, will be still better understood when 
it is remembered that a line drawn from a point on the 
sea near the mouth of the Amur Eiver, west-southwest 
across Asia, to the west coast of Africa and the Atlan- 
tic Ocean, lies everywhere, throughout its ten thousand 
miles of extent, in an arid and inhospitable desert region. 
It crosses no considerable country of high civilization 
unless Egypt and the valley of the Euphrates be ex- 
cepted, or which has ever had a high civilization, or 
which has ever exerted a dominating influence upon the 
civilization of any other country. This vast trackless 
region has effectually separated the civilizations of all 
Southern and Eastern Asia from those of Europe, from 
the earliest days of the historic period down almost to 
the present time. Railways are now being pushed out 
from Eussia ; Merv and Tashkend are already or soon 
will be in daily communication with Moscow, St. Peters- 
burg, Berlin, and Paris, and the civilization of those 
places will surely make its way overland into the heart 
of Asia, and ultimately down the Amar if not through 
China, to the western shores of the Pacific. 

No allusion has yet been made to the isolation of Chi- 
na by sea ; but up to the days of navigation by steam it 
was almost as difficult to reach that distant country by 
water as by land. It is true that the adventurous Greeks 
made their way through Asia Minor to the Arabian Sea, 
and pushed their explorations and conquests eastward 
along the coast as far as India, but there is no trustwor- 
thy evidence going to show that there was any inter- 
communication whatever, by water, between either the 
Greeks or the Eomans and the Chinese. During the 
middle ages there is reason for believing thab an occa- 



30 csmA. 

sional merchant, like the Polos, more adventurous than 
the rest, may have reached or left the Chinese coast in 
the frail sailing-craft of that period ; audit is certain that, 
after navigation became an exact science and sailing- 
ships of stronger build were introduced, they made their 
way in increasing numbers to that remote quarter of the 
globe, and carried with them many hardy and adventur- 
ous Jesuits ; but it was not till after steamships were in- 
vented and brought to a high state of perfection that 
communication with China became intimate enough to 
bring us any exact knowledge of the country, or to enable 
us to exert any influence or to produce any change what- 
ever upon its civilization. 

A moment's consideration of the foregoing facts is 
sufficient to show why Chinese civilization, which was de- 
veloped on lines exclusively its own, and entirely free from 
all extraneous influences, should be unlike any other, ex- 
cept in so far as similar causes operating upon human 
beings, however remotely separated from us, but subject 
to the same natural wants and laws as ourselves, might 
produce similar results. The Chinese require shelter and 
food, like ourselves, and, like ourselves, live in houses, 
wear manufactured clothing, and eat the products of the 
earth ; but, in nearly everything else, they are as unlike 
Europeans and Americans as if they came from another 
planet. As might be naturally supposed, their manners 
and customs, their literature, and habits of thought are 
entirely different from ours, and these differences, togeth- 
er with the surrounding circumstances, must be kept in 
mind, in considering the chances of inducing the Chinese 
to abandon their own and adopt the appliances of an alien 
civilization. 

China proper is called, by its own inhabitants, the 
Middle Kingdom, or the Central Flowery Land; but by 
the Kussians and other people of Northern Asia it is called 



ORIGIN OF NAMES. 31 

Katai, whence comes the name of Cathay. The Persians 
designate it as Tsin or Chin, easily changed by foreigners 
into China, but the significance of this word, or the root 
from which it is deriyed, I haye not been able to discoyer. 
The country, as before stated, is subdiyided into nine- 
teen proyinces, each presided oyer by a goyernor-gen- 
eral, and sometimes by a yiceroy, appointed by the throne. 
These proyinces, beginning in the northeast and sweeping 
westward around the Great Wall, are Chihli, Shansi, 
Shensi, Kansuh, Sechuen, and Yunnan ; then, sweep- 
ing back to the eastward, and along the sea-coast, come 
Quei-Chow, Quangsi, Quang-tung, Fo-kien, Formosa or 
Taiwan, Che-kiang, Kiang-su, and Shantung. The cen- 
ter is occupied by Honan, Hoope, Hoonan, Kiang-si, and 
Nganwhei. The entire area of these proyinces is not ma- 
terially different from that of the States lying east of the 
Missouri and Mississippi Eiyers, with Arkansas and Texas 
added. It is included between about the same parallels of 
latitude, and, so far as cold is concerned, it has about the 
same climate ; but, the two great riyers of the country 
running generally eastward to the ocean, haye formed an 
extensiye delta of low, alluyial lands nearly seyen hun- 
dred miles long from north to south, and from three to 
fiye hundred miles in width, so that the preyailing south 
and southeast monsoons coming in from the tropical re- 
gions of the Pacific Ocean laden with watery yapor find 
no high ranges of mountains to intercept them, but carry 
their refreshing rains far inland during the summer 
months. These rains last from three to four months 
only, but are frequently excessiye, and, when such is the 
case, the great plains are often swept by deyastating floods. 
But in the fall, winter, and spring, or for two thirds of 
the year, the preyailing winds are from the north or 
northwest, and almost constant sunshine preyails. It 
hardly eyer rains, and still more rarely snows ; the at- 



32 CHINA. 

mosphere becomes remarkably dry, the thirsty nortbern 
winds drink up the water of the ponds, pulyerize the grass 
and scanty vegetation, and occasionally carry clouds of 
dust from the arid steppes lying beyond the borders 
across the eastern proyinces, and far out to sea. 

I arrived at Shanghai in the month of October, and 
traveled constantly, in all parts of Northern China, till 
April, and during the whole time it did not rain at 
all, nor did it snow sufficiently to cover the ground. 
Throughout the winter the weather was clear and bright, 
except for three or four days only, when it was cloudy, 
and for five or six more when violent dust-storms were 
prevailing. It was, however, quite cold at all times, 
though, from the lack of moisture in the air, the cold 
was not so keenly felt as an equally low temperature 
would have been in the United States. Of course, it is 
impossible to carry on any out-door occupation during 
the dust-storms, but, as they rarely ever prevail with vio- 
lence for more than two days, the winters are remarka- 
bly favorable to work and travel, and especially so for the 
latter, as the frost is destructive to all kinds of insect- 
life. . It is hard to imagine a more bright and bracing 
winter climate, or one in which life in the open air is 
more enjoyable. The summer, however, makes up for 
it, as it is not only hot but wet ; the air becomes saturated 
with water, and the humid heat is almost unbearable to 
those who are not accustomed to it. 

The surface of the country throughout China proper 
is divided into a succession of plains, hills, and mount- 
ains. The drainage is generally eastward, but the great 
rivers which rise in the mountains of Thibet are tortu- 
ous in the extreme till they are clear of the higher lands 
and approach sea-level. 

The scope of this work does not warrant a descrip- 
tion of the Amur, which touches the northern borders 



EWANQ-EO, OR THE YELLOW RIVER. 33 

of the empire, and is in some degree a Chinese river, 
but it also has its source in the table-lands of Central 
Asia, and flows eastwardly to the Pacific Ocean. 

In many respects the most remarkable but at the same 
time the least known river of China, is the Hwang-ho, or 
Yellow Eiver. It rises in Northern Thibet, between the 
Shuga and Bayan-kara Mountains, in latitude 35° north 
and longitude 96° east, and not more than a hundred 
miles from the sources of the Yang-tse-kiang. It was 
long considered by Chinese writers as entitled to special 
reverence, and by some foreign scholars as being one of 
the four sacred rivers of the world, but all efforts to 
identify it with either of the latter have failed, and even 
the Chinese themselves have come to consider it rather 
as a curse and source of sorrow than as a sacred stream, 
from which blessings and happiness might be expected to 
flow. Its course from the lakelets in the narrow plains 
at its head, called by the Chinese the Starry Sea, is at 
first south, then west, and then north and northeast, for 
about seven hundred miles, till it reaches the Great Wall, 
which follows it northwardly for about four hundred 
miles. It then crosses the Wall, makes a great bend 
north and eastward around the country of the Ortous 
Mongols, and impinges against a spur of the Peh-ling 
Mountains, which turns it again almost due south, in 
which direction it flows for over five hundred miles be- 
tween the provinces of Shensi and Shansi. In this part 
of its course it traverses the loess plains and receives no 
tributaries worthy of the name. It is also in this part 
of its course that it changes its character from a clear 
mountain stream and takes from the loess clay the yel- 
low color which gives it its name. At the southwestern 
corner of Shansi, and about 1,850 miles from its source, 
it receives its greatest affluent, the Wei, and changes its 
course to the eastward again, in which direction it flows 



34 csmA. 

for about two hundred miles, to the yicinity of Kai-fung. 
fu, the capital of Honan. The place of its confluence 
with the Wei, is about five hundred and fifty miles on 
the shortest line from the sea, and may be regarded as the 
head of its delta. From Kai-fung-fu it now flows north- 
easterly to the southwestern corner of the Gulf of Pe- 
chili, but in this part of its course through the plains it 
has had many channels to the sea, though so far as is 
now known never more than one at a time. Since the 
beginning of the historic period it is certain, if we may 
rely upon Chinese chronicles, that it has changed its bed 
at least six times, but no one can now do more than 
guess how many times it did the same thing in the 
countless prehistoric ages, during which, aided by the 
Yang-tse farther south, it was slowly pushing back the 
borders of the ocean, and building up the delta plains 
which constitute so great a portion of the China with 
which we are now concerned. It is clear, however, that 
the wanderings of the river were coextensive with its 
delta, which extends from Shan-hai-Quawn, in latitude 
39.30° north, to the mouth of the Yang-tse, in latitude 
31° 45' north. 

It is known that it has occupied in succession the beds 
of what are now called the Pei-ho, the Old Eiver, and 
the Tatsing-ho, all entering the Gulf of Pechili north of 
the Shantung promontory, and that prior to 1853 it fol- 
lowed a former bed to the sea, in latitude 34° north, south 
of the promontory. The distance between those mouths, 
measured along the sea-coast, around the Shantung prom- 
ontory, is about six hundred miles, while the distance 
from the northernmost limits of the delta to the mouth 
of the Yang-tse, measured in the same way, is nearly one 
thousand miles. But the deltas of the Hwang-ho and of 
the Yang-tse are conterminous, and not separated by 
highlands, and the total distance from the northern lim- 



EWANG-EO, OR THE YELLOW EIVEB. 35 

its of one to the southern limits of the other, on the sea- 
coast, is about eleven hundred miles. 

Winding its tortuous course, as it does, for twenty- 
seyen hundred miles, through an arid and treeless re- 
gion, the Hwang-ho carries, during the dry season and 
for two thirds of the year, but a small volume of water, 
compared with that carried by the Yang-tse, or the Ama- 
zon, or even with the Mississippi. It is so shallow and 
narrow, and its bed has so great a declivity till after it 
enters the delta, that it is entirely unfit for navigation. 
At many places it is broken by rapids, and its current is 
so swift that it can not be crossed except at considerable 
risk. Its width, even after it enters the Great Plain, does 
not generally exceed fifteen hundred feet, though at one or 
two places along its new bed, where it has not yet exca- 
vated a well-defined channel for itself, it spreads out to a 
width of several thousand feet, and is filled with sand-bars. 
It is navigable to Yushan, near the western border of Shan- 
tung, for light-draught junks, and steamboats drawing 
ten feet of water might readily ascend it to Ohinan-fu, 
the capital of that province, and even a hundred miles 
above, if they were authorized to run, and could get over 
the bar at its mouth. Generally, the river resembles the 
Missouri at and above Bismarck, in width, color, and 
volume of water, and even in the character and appear- 
ance of its fore-shores ; but, after it enters the delta, 
unlike the Missouri, it has no river-valley, with hill-sides 
near by, rising to the higher level of the rolling prairies. 
To the contrary, its shores are never higher than ten or 
twelve feet, and at places not more than five feet, even in 
the driest season. The plains are almost perfectly level, 
and stretch away in either direction from the river's mar- 
gin hundreds of miles, without the slightest rise or de- 
pression that can be detected by the most practiced eye. 
They are absolutely as level as flowing water. 



36 csmA. 

But, howeyer insignificant and harmless this remark- 
able river may be in the dry season, and for the greater 
part of the year, its character becomes entirely changed 
during the rainy season. Its water-shed, which is esti- 
mated by Williams at 475,000 square miles, is almost 
entirely bare of trees, and hence the water which falls 
upon its upper portions in the short rainy season, runs 
rapidly into the main river, and causes the most de- 
structive floods. When there is a concurrence of heavy 
rains in the delta-plains, with a descending high- water 
wave from the table-lands, the embankments, erected 
with such painful labor, and neglected with such certainty 
everywhere, are frequently broken and swept away, and 
whole districts, many miles in width, are laid waste by 
the devastating and irresistible inundations. Houses are 
melted down, crops are destroyed, and, at times, thou- 
sands of people, with all their floeks, are drowned. 

The erection and repair of the embankments are now 
and have been, from time immemorial, matters of the 
greatest solicitude to the provincial and imperial govern- 
ments ; but, when the^ floods have come and gone, and 
the long dry season is at hand again, the improvident or 
corrupt officials, and the still more improvident people, 
seem alike to forget that the embankments can ever be 
required again, or that there is any necessity for looking 
after or repairing them. Some of them are laid out and 
constructed with great care, but many of them are badly 
located and aligned, and poorly built in every respect. 
They are generally placed from one to two miles back 
from the river, and are from twelve to fourteen feet high, 
twenty to twenty-five wide on top, and have slopes of two 
base to one perpendicular. They are not habitually pro- 
tected by willows, reeds, or grasses, and whatever vegeta- 
tion grows upon them is scrupulously raked off in winter 
for fuel. They are freely used for roads and paths, and 



EIVEB EMBANKMENTS. 37 

are rarely provided with ramps or suitably constructed 
road-crossings. The consequence is, that they are not 
only injured and weakened at many places, but frequently, 
where the traffic crossing them is considerable, they are 
cut through to the level of the plain upon which they 
stand. They are at all times the favorite resort of bur- 
rowing animals, and during the dry season the river, 
wandering from one side to the other of the space in- 
cluded between, frequently impinges against and under- 
cuts them. Nothing is ever done beforehand to repair or 
prevent such injuries, so that when the floods come again 
the weak spots are found, and the neglected embank- 
ments, as might be expected, are broken through and 
swept away, notwithstanding the most strenuous exer- 
tions at the last moment to prevent it. Large detach- 
ments of the army are hurried to the spot, and thousands 
of men, and .^en women and boys, are gathered in from 
the neighboring towns and villages, after a break has 
taken place. Frantic efforts are made and great expenses 
are incurred to repair the embankment, through which a 
cataract is pouring, and which might have been main- 
tained intact by the exercise of a little timely foresight 
and the honest expenditure of a little money. 

In the middle ages the embankments seem to have 
been placed closer to the river margins, and to have been 
given a stronger profile than at present. The practice 
now, however, is to place them farther back, as before 
described, but near important towns where the local cir- 
cumstances seem to require it, a smaller and lower em- 
bankment is sometimes constructed close to the river- 
front. The most remarkable embankment examined by 
me was one built by the great Emperor Kien-lung, whose 
long and prosperous reign was contemporaneous with the 
life of George Washington. It is located on that part of 
the river near Kai-fung-fu, and extends many miles in 



38 CHINA. 

either direction. It is from forty to fifty feet high, and 
from fifty to sixty feet wide on top, has the usual slopes 
of two base to one perpendicular, and was exceedingly 
well laid out and constructed. A better idea of its enor- 
mous dimensions can be had by considering its solid con- 
tents, which I estimated on the ground to be an average 
of a million cubic yards per mile, and to have cost, even 
with the abundant labor of China, fifty thousand dollars 
per mile. At the place where I crossed it, it was sur- 
mounted by the walls and gates of a fortified city, and, 
after two weeks^ travel in the dead level of the plains, 
seemed to be a mountain commanding an almost illimit- 
able yiew of country spread out below it. What is still 
more curious is, that it was this enormous embankment 
which was broken through by the extraordinary flood of 
1853 at Lung-mun-kou, about thirty miles below, and from 
which place the river completely abandoned its old bed, 
and made a new one for itself, across the plain, to the 
Tatsing-ho, and thence along that river's bed to the Grulf of 
Pechili. But no intelligent and thoughtful person can ex- 
amine the broken embankment and the surrounding coun- 
try without coming to the conclusion, as I did, that the 
breach must have been due to negligence, aided by such- 
causes as I have described as being everywhere prevalent. 
Williams, Martin, and Ney Elias, all distinguished schol- 
ars and travelers, together with others of lesser note, have 
generally cited this incident as a conclusive argument 
against the diking of a river's banks to resist floods. The 
distinguished Jesuit traveler, Abbe Hue, many years be- 
fore either Martin or Ney Elias had visited the scene of 
the disaster, predicted that it would certainly occur, 
sooner or later. He alleged that the river-bed, in that 
part of its course, had become so filled up with silt brought 
down from the table-lands, as to be higher than the ad- 
jacent country ; but, having no leveling instruments, and 



RIVER EMBANKMENTS. 39 

therefore making no exact measurements, so far as I liaye 
been able to learn, I am persuaded that his statement 
does not I'est upon data of sufficient accuracy to justify 
the world, and still less the engineering profession, in 
receiving it as correct. I shall refer to this subject again 
in another chapter, and give my own views more fully, 
as to the present condition of the river-bed and embank- 
ments, and of the causes which led to the great breach, 
the complete change of direction, and the erosion of a new 
channel to the seas. 



CHAPTEE IV. 

The Yang-tse-kiang — Its navigation — Its various names — ^Its tributaries 
— Its floods — Canals and creeks in the delta — Area of its water-shed — 
The Chukiang or Pearl Eiver — The Min — The Pei-ho and its tribu- 
taries — The Peh-tang — The New-Chwang and the Ta-wen-ho. 

GrEEAT as is the Hwang-ho or Yellow Eiyer, it is ex- 
ceeded in length, as well as in depth, width, and yolume 
of discharge, by the Yang-tse-kiang, which also rises in 
the mountains of Thibet, within a hundred miles of its 
neighbor, and after flowing to the south and southeast- 
ward through an interminable maze of mountain-gorges 
and valleys, it crosses China proper from the extreme 
western border of Secjiuen, in a generally east-northeast- 
wardly direction to the Yellow Sea, which it enters 
within a hundred, and twenty miles of the old mouth of 
the Yellow Eiver. It, however, traverses a region in which 
the snows are heavier and the rains more frequent and 
deeper, and it has in addition a water-shed of much 
greater area than the Yellow Eiver, and consequently it 
discharges a much greater volume of water at all seasons 
of the year. Its discharge has never been measured, but 
enough of it is known to justify the statement that it is 
one of the greatest rivers of the world — a broad, stately 
stream, navigable to the Grreat Eapids, thirteen hundred 
miles from the sea, for ocean-steamers, and for those of 
the greatest draught to Nanking, while river-steamers can 
ascend five or six hundred miles farther into the heart of 



NAVIGATION OF TEE TANG-T8E-KIANQ. 41 

Sechuen. The rapids, which are found just above Ichang, 
have hitherto been regarded as impassable by steam- 
ers under their own motive power, but it is now known 
that the current does not exceed nine miles per hour, 
and that the channel is sufficiently deep and clear of 
sunken rocks to admit of free navigation by boats having 
enough power to make head against the current. The 
rapids are habitually passed by junks, which are warped 
through them by means of ropes and man-power. It is 
understood that the China Merchants' Steamship Com- 
pany are now building a boat to ply through them and 
along the river above, to the head of navigation. This 
boat will be promptly followed by others, for, when the 
upper river is once opened, foreign steamers will surely 
rush in. Under the treaties, they are entitled to enter 
and ply upon all parts of the river without restriction, 
after it has been shown that the rapids can be safely 
passed. Effective steam communication fully established 
on this magnificent water-way wherever practicable, will 
give a new impulse to trade with the central and west- 
ern provinces, and will enable the Imperial Government 
to transport troops and military munitions in either di- 
rection from one side of the em.pire to the other, with 
much greater speed and safety than have heretofore been 
possible. The value of this river for such purposes has 
never been understood by the Chinese Government, and, 
even if it had been, the Government could not fully util- 
ize it, so long as junks were the only disposable means 
of navigation. The day must, however, be near at hand 
when, should occasion call for it, the river will become a 
much more important factor in the problem of binding 
the empire together and protecting it against external as 
well as internal enemies. 

It is not possible to give the exact length of this river, 
for its course through the mountains of Thibet has never 



42 cnmA, 

been explored or accurately laid down, mucli less has it 
been correctly measured. It, however, approximates three 
thousand miles, and flows through every variety of land 
and climate met with in China. Each new province that 
it waters gives it a new name. The main trunk in 
Sechuen is called by the natives Kin-sha-kiang, or the 
Eiver of Golden Sand, until it is joined by the Yalung, 
after which it is called Ta-kiang, as far as Wuchang in 
Hoopeh. Below this point it is designated as the Ohang- 
kiang, or Long Eiver, and finally, in its reach next the 
sea, as the Yang-tse-kiang. 

Unlike the Hwang-ho, it has many large tributaries, 
the most important of which is the Kan-kiang in the 
province of Kiangsi. This affluent drains the water of 
the Poyang Lake, and continues the navigation of the 
Grand Canal and the Yang-tse Eiver into the southern 
part of the empire. There are many other streams flow- 
ing from the southern mountains into the river and swell- 
ing its enormous flood. The Han-kiang in Hoopeh, drain- 
ing a rich and populous valley of great extent, is perhaps 
the largest tributary from the north, and its junction 
with the main river marks a spot of great commercial and 
strategic importance known as Han-kow. It is open to 
foreigners as one of the treaty ports, and in the future 
development of the country, especially as to railroads and 
manufactures, will doubtless become one of the greatest 
centers of activity. 

The Yang-tse differs from the Hwang-ho in many 
other respects than those already mentioned. Its outflow 
is more regular, and this is due as much to the configura- 
tion of its water-shed, and to the occurrence of lakes like 
the Poyang and Tung-ting, which hold back the water of 
the region tributary to them, as to the meteorological 
conditions which obtain in that part of China. The 
floods are very great, because the annual downfall of rain 



THE GRAND CANAL. 43 

is also yery great, but the river-banks are generally not 
so low as to be frequently overflowed, even by freshets 
which rise thirty feet as they sometimes do. The bar 
at its mouth permits the passage of large, ocean-going 
steamers at all times, and although the estuary contains 
shoals and flats at several places, they do not interpose 
any serious obstruction to navigation. At a distance of 
about a hundred miles from the sea, the shores although 
low, approach near enough to each other, and are so 
broken by detached but commanding hills, that they lend 
themselves readily to the defense of the interior by for- 
tifications, a number of which have already been located 
and constructed. 

The Grand Canal, which has lost much of its utility 
and importance since the Yellow Eiver changed its bed 
in 1853, and to which I shall refer more fully in another 
chapter, enters the Yang-tse from the north, about three 
miles above Chin-kiang, an important city, admirably situ- 
ated on the soubh bank of the river, one hundred and sev- 
enty miles above its mouth. The river is also connected 
at this city with Shanghai, Hang-chow, and many other 
important cities south of the Great Eiver by a continuation 
of the Grand Canal, or by other canals, creeks, and rivers, 
leading out of it. Indeed, the whole region between Chin- 
kiang and the sea, on either side of the Yang-tse, is a net- 
work of canals and creeks with their necessary embank- 
ments, which so cut up and divide the land as to make it 
almost impassable for an invading army. These canals 
are everywhere the same in general characteristics, and 
hence the description of the Grand Canal, which will be 
found farther on, will answer for all. 

The water-shed of the Yang-tse is given by Williams 
at 548,000 square miles, and by the ^^ American Cyclo- 
paedia" at 750,000. Various estimates, which perhaps, 
are but little better than guesses, have been made by for- 



44: CHINA. 

eigners, of the annual discharge of both the Hwang-ho 
and the Yang-tse, but none of them are based upon accu- 
rate measurements or systematic observations. The Chi- 
nese themselves have no conception of the science in- 
volved in such an estimate, or of the use to which the 
data connected therewith could be put, and hence have 
never wasted any time upon it. 

The next great river of China is the Chu-kiang, or 
Pearl River, which, with its three principal branches, 
drains a water-shed of about 130,000 square miles, lying 
south of the Nan-ling or South Mountains. It enters 
the sea near Canton, and its western branch, rising in 
Quangsi, drains and affords communication to nearly all 
the country on the southern border of the empire. The 
middle or northern branch heads near the Che-ling pass, 
on the direct route to the Poyang Lake, and the Yang-tse 
River at Kiu-kiang, and at no distant day will doubtless 
be occupied by one of the principal railroad lines of the 
empire. Both of these and also the eastern branch are 
navigable for steamboats, and are important arteries of 
trade, as well as noticeable agencies in shaping the to- 
pography of the region 'drained by them. 

There is another considerable river known as the Min, 
which enters the sea at Foo-Chow, about midway between 
Canton and the mouth of the Yang-tse, but its water-shed 
is of much less extent than either of those heretofore 
mentioned. 

The Pei-ho, which enters the Gulf of Pechili at Taku, 
is a considerable river, and at times discharges a large vol- 
ume of water, but it is principally remarkable from the 
fact that it lies, with all its tributaries, entirely in the 
Great Plain, and has at widely separated intervals con- 
stituted the bed of the Yellow River for many years 
at a time. It drains but little mountain or hill coun- 
try, notably small areas lying northwest of Peking, west 



THE PEI-EO, 45 

of Pau-ting-fu, and in Southeastern Shansi. It conse- 
quently has had bnt little influence in shaping the topog- 
raphy of the country, but as it is nayigable, notwith- 
standing its great crookedness, for ocean-steamers of ten 
or twelve feet draught to Tientsin, fifty miles from its 
mouth, and is the principal means of access for both 
native and foreign officials to Peking, as well as for 
nearly all the foreign goods consumed in the country 
north of the Yellow Eiver, it is of great importance to 
the Chinese, in connection with commerce and also with 
the national defense. Its southern branch, the Wei- ho, 
is occupied by the Grand Canal from Tientsin to Lin- 
tsing, a distance of about three hundred miles by its tortu- 
ous course. Its northern branch is similarly occupied for 
about one hundred and fifty miles between Tientsin and 
Tung-Chow, fifteen miles east of Peking. Tientsin, situ- 
ated at the meeting-point of its various branches, is a city 
of nearly a million inhabitants, and being a treaty port, 
as well as the port of Peking, it has a flourishing foreign 
settlement, and is a city of great importance as a center 
of commercial and political influence. While it is not 
the capital of the province, it is the chief seat of the 
viceroy, Li Hung-Chang, and derives great additional im- 
portance from that fact. 

The entrance to the Pei-ho is obstructed by a bar, 
which effectually closes the river against steamers except 
at high tide, and even then they can not enter, drawing 
more than twelve or thirteen feet, but it is fully within 
the range of modern engineering skill to remove the bar, 
and make a port at Taku, just within the mouth of the 
river, accessible at all times for vessels of even twenty feet 
draught. The river carries but little water into the gulf 
at any time, except during the rainy season, and as it lies 
altogether in the Great Plain, and has but little fall, it 
silts up rapidly, as soon as the outpour of flood-water has 



46 CEIFA. 

ceased, and then even the light-draught ocean-steamera 
which ply between it and Shanghai have the greatest 
difficulty in ascending it more than fifteen or twenty 
miles. It is entirely devoid of rocks, and, there being no 
forest-trees anywhere on its banks, it is also free from 
snags and sawyers, such as used to make the navigation 
of our Western rivers so difficult ; hence steamers suffer 
no danger and no inconvenience even from running 
ashore or getting aground, except from the delay and 
expense which follow. 

The Peh-tang, which enters the gulf about ten miles 
farther north, has a deeper channel across its bar than 
the Pei-ho, and is of some importance from a military 
point of view on that account. The sea-coast between 
these two rivers, being only about one hundred and ten 
miles from Peking by the traveled roads, has been se- 
lected more than once, notwithstanding the shoal water 
along it, by foreign powers at war with China, as a 
landing-place and base for hostile operations against the 
capital, and this circumstance must always cause the 
Chinese Government to regard it as well as the Pei-ho 
and the Peh-tang Eiyers with peculiar anxiety. They 
occupy important positions in connection with both the 
invasion and defense of the country, and hence have 
been carefully surveyed by foreigners, and elaborately 
fortified at their entrance and at various points higher up 
by the Chinese. In the future development of the coun- 
try, the entrance to the Pei-ho must necessarily be im- 
proved, the dry-docks and other facilities for repairing 
ships at Taku must be increased, and, last, but not 
least, a railroad must be built from Taku to Tient- 
sin, Pau-ting-fu and Peking. There is no other route 
in the empire where a larger passenger and freight 
traffic require to be accommodated, and certainly none 
where the contingencies of the national defense so im- 



DRY BIVER-BEDS. 47 

peratiyely demand the construction of a first-class rail- 
road. 

There are many other rivers shown on the maps of the 
Great Plain, but with the exception of the New-Chwang, in 
the province of Shinking and the Ta-wen-ho, which rises in 
the western part of the Shantung Hills, and sup23lies the 
Grand Canal south of the Yellow Eiver with water, they 
nearly all dry up during the rainless season, and are indi= 
cated generally by a swale in the plain bordered by em- 
bankments to restrain the water during flood-time. I have 
crossed many of them, so faint in outline and so perfectly 
dry, that I had great difficulty in locating them at all. The 
great rivers of the country are the Yang-tse-kiang and the 
Hwang-ho, which have through countless ages been slowly 
cutting down the mountains and loess terraces, and build- 
ing up the great delta plain. The Ohu-kiang and Min have 
in a lesser degree been doing the same kind of work upon 
the southern and eastern slopes of the mountains and bor- 
ders of the sea south of the Yang-tse. Keeping these 
facts constantly in mind, the outlines and natural subdi- 
visions of the land will also be easily understood from 
the description which follows in the next chapter. 



CHAPTER V. 

The surface of the country — Sinian Mountain system — The highlands and 
hill country — Origin of the loess terraces — The outlying dependencies 
— Corea, Manchuria, Mongolia, Hi, Turkistan, and Thibet — The Great 
Plain or delta — Coal, iron, and other minerals — The Kaiping coal- 
mines and railroad — The first locomotive built in China — The coal- 
mines of Formosa and Shansi — Coal transported in wheelbarrows — 
The development of coal and iron receiving Government attention — 
Foreign experts required — Conservatism of the Government. 

The surface of Ohina is naturally subdiyided into 
mountainous and billy country, tlie loess terraces or 
plains, and the G-reat Plain or delta of the Hwang-ho and 
Yang-tse-kiang. 

Beginning in the high mountain-region of Thibet, 
into the borders of which the daring and resolute Colo- 
nel Prejeyalsky has decently pushed his explorations, 
but which is still a great geographical puzzle, the mount- 
ain system of China, buttressed upon the lofty Hima- 
layas, branches off into four principal ranges with many 
spurs and outliers, the general trend of which is at 
first east and west, and afterward, as they pass through 
Central China and approach the ocean, northeast, and 
southwest. Roughly speaking, everywhere in China 
proper, as well as in Formosa and Japan, the upheaval 
is parallel with the direction of the Chinese coast and 
is designated by Pumpelly as the Sinian system. Its 
trend is particularly noticeable in the southeastern prov- 
inces, and again in the northern and western part of the 
northeastern provinces. There is a great congeries of 



CHINESE MOUNT Am SYSTEM. 49 

mountains in Southern and Eastern Thibet, of which the 
principal drainage is to the southeast into the Meikon 
and the Yang-tse-kiang. The principal outliers of these 
mountains, to the eastward are the Peh-ling or North 
Mountains which separate the valleys of the Hwang-ho 
and Yang-tse-kiang by more than four hundred miles, 
on or near the 105th meridian east of Greenwich. 

The Nan-ling or the South Mountains, in the south- 
eastern provinces, seem to be a separate upheaval, and to 
be broken up into short ranges, which give to all the 
country, except the delta, south of the Yang-tse a rough if 
not mountainous surface. The highlands touch the coast 
everywhere, from Hanchow Bay to Canton, and, being bare 
of trees, give it a bold but uninviting appearance. They 
also strike the Yang-tse near Chin-kiang, and at many 
other points along the river to Ichang. There are a few 
bits of table-land in this hill-region, and two considerable 
river-valleys containing the Poyang and the Tung-ting 
Lakes. It is about four hundred miles wide by one thou- 
sand miles long, and much of it is covered with trees, 
and is susceptible of cultivation. On the eastern and 
southeastern sea-coast the hills are bare and ragged, and 
look like the hills of New Mexico rather than those of 
our Eastern States. 

The region between the Yang-tse and the Yellow 
River is similar to that just described. Its drainage is 
almost all toward the Yang-tse, although a considerable 
river draining the greater part of Shensi, joins the Hwang- 
ho at the southwest corner of Shensi. North of the 
Peh-ling divide the loess terraces are found ; they cover 
a great part of the two provinces just named, and are 
noted for their inexhaustible fertility. This curious for- 
mation is also found at the foot of the Shan-tung Hills, 
and there, as well as elsewhere, has been a puzzle to ge- 
ologists, some of whom, including Pumpelly, the Ameri- 
4 



50 CEIXA, 

can savant, ascribe its orign to lacustrine or subaqueous 
deposit. The investigations of Baron Eichthofen, a 
learned German, sent out by the Shanghai Chamber of 
Commerce, have led him, however, to formulate the theory 
that it is composed of subaerial dust deposits, which have 
been laid down through countless ages of the past by the 
winds which, sweeping over the plains from the north- 
west, become laden with the dust of the dried-up grasses 
and vegetation, and of the mineral substances which are 
broken down and pulverized by the action of frost. This 
dust is so fine that it sifts through every crack and cranny, 
and while it settles everywhere in times of calm, it is, of 
course, almost impossible to detect the slow growth of the 
earth's surface from that source. Wherever the loess de- 
posits are found, they present the same curious features. 
They have a uniform yellowish-clay color, very like the soil 
of Mississippi between Yicksburg and Jackson, and their 
surface is nearly level. Where cut into by roads, or by 
the action of streams, the exposed cut stands vertical and 
presents a series of columnar pipelets of irregular polyg- 
onal cross-section, which also stand vertical, are readily 
cleavable from one another, break easily, and are filled 
with capillary tubes of carbonate of lime. This loess 
clay pulverizes quickly in the roads, and the wind blows 
it away. The consequence is, that the roads are con- 
stantly being lowered, and in many places are sunken far 
below the level of the country. They not infrequently 
become the bed of a torrent caused by the outflow of 
rain-water, and when this is the case they are still more 
rapidly deepened. The banks of rivers in the loess re- 
gion also stand vertical, and are found in more than one 
district several hundred feet high. In such cases the 
inhabitants burrow into them, and dig out houses more 
or less commodious, in which they dwell, and excavate 
granaries, in which they store their crops. 



TEE LOESS TERRACES 51 

The capillary tubes mentioned above are almost in- 
visible, except by the aid of a microscope, and are sup- 
posed to have been formed by the slow decay of the lower- 
most grass-rootlets, due in turn to the slow rising of the 
surface, as the impalpable dust settles upon it, and to 
the consequent exclusion of light and heat. The tubes 
serve to bring the moisture of the earth below to the 
surface, and along with it the salts necessary for the sus- 
tenance of the growing crops. Cultivated land in the 
loess region, therefore, withstands drought much better 
than any other land known, and retains or renews its fer- 
tility, without the application of artificial manure, in a 
very remarkable manner. It is thought that farms in 
this region have been producing crops of wheat for thou- 
sands of years, practically without rotation, or the assist- 
ance of fertilizers of any kind. 

In Shan-tung, the loess terraces are situated next to 
the foot of the hills, and just above the level of the Great 
Plain. They present all the characteristics of those in 
Shansi and Shensi, but are not so wide or thick. The 
color of the loess substance is brighter than the soil of the 
Great Plain, but it is easy to see that they might have 
had a common origin, the difference being that the loess 
was laid down by the wind and has undergone no 
change except that produced by the vegetation growing 
on the surface, while the soil of the Great Plain is alluvial, 
and was eroded from the loess terraces and and table- 
lands and intermixed with other materials by the action 
of running water, partly dissolved, held in suspension, 
transported and finally laid down in salt-water. The first 
when dry is a bright-yellowish color like ordinary clay, 
and the second a yellowish-gray color. Either will make 
sun-dried or burned bricks. 

There is also a range of hills in the eastern and north- 
ern parts of Shansi, Northern Chihli, and Shinking, which 



52 cnmA. 

extends to and beyond the Great Wall^ and is said to 
contain rich deposits of coal, iron, and other minerals. 
They are entirely bare of trees, and when yiewed from the 
plain are ragged and serrated in outline, yariegated in 
color, and full of cliffs, crags, detached bowlders, and 
broken materials. On the whole, they remind one of the 
hills of New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona, and so far 
as one can now see, were neyer coyered with trees or luxu- 
riant yegetation. This is doubtless due in part, if not 
entirely, to the extreme aridity of the climate. 

Outside of China Proper, beginning on the north, at the 
sea-coast, is Oorea, formerly a tributary kingdom ; then, 
proceeding west and northwest, come Liautung, Shinking, 
Kirin, and Tsitsihar, constituting Manchuria, from which 
came the present imperial Chinese dynasty as conquerors. 
Sweeping farther to the westward, we haye Inner and Out- 
er Mongolia, separated from each other by the sandy sles- 
ert of Sharao or Gobi, and subdiyided into many khanates. 
Beyond, and still farther to the west, in the yery heart of 
Asia, lies Hi, or Chinese Tartary, a yast, cheerless, arid 
region, divided into Tien- Shan, Peh-lu, or Sungaria, and 
Tien-Shan Kan-Lu, "by the Tien-Shan or Celestial Moun- 
tains. This region contains Barkul, Urum-tsi, and Kuld- 
ja, all widely separated, but on the road from China to 
Europe, and celebrated of late years as points in the re- 
markable campaign made by the late Tso Tsung-Tang 
for the purpose of repossessing this remote corner of the 
empire, and reducing it to obedience to the throne. 

The southern part of Hi is known as Eastern Turkistan. 
It contains the cities of Kashgar, Yarkand, Khoten, and 
Kirrea, and is separated from Bod or Thibet by the Kwan- 
lun Mountains. This last dependency is subdiyided into 
Ulterior and Anterior Thibet, and is broken up into 
many smaller districts by the numerous mountain-ranges 
which make it the most inaccessible country in the world. 



OUTLYING DEPENDENCIES. 53 

These outlying regions, and especially Thibet, are thought 
to be rich in minerals of all kinds, and, although thinly 
populated by semi-civilized tribes, subsisting mainly on 
the products of their herds, will, when brought into com- 
munication with the rest of the world by railroads, afford 
homes and occupation for a population many times larger 
than they now support. They contain over three million 
square miles of territory, and while the most of them have 
been visited and more or less carefully described by Eu- 
ropean travelers, they yet remain to be scientifically ex- 
plored, and brought under the domination of modern uses 
and ideas. So far as I can make out, they are, in many 
respects like our own Rocky Mountain regions, arid, 
inhospitable, and barren. Vegetation is everywhere 
scarce, great tracts are sandy wastes, almost impassable 
by man, and forsaken even by birds and beasts, but 
abounding in mineral resources, which will some day 
give occupation to millions of people. Thibet is said to 
be specially rich in precious stones, and some idea may 
be had of the possible extent and variety of its resources 
when it is remembered that it is eighteen hundred miles 
long from east to west, by nearly nine hundred miles wide.* 
The northern part of Mongolia, bordering on the 
Amur and its tributaries, is now known to contain 
placer gold-mines of great richness, and there is already 
a rush of both Chinese and Russian miners into that 
region. It is not impossible that it may soon prove to 
be as great a source of gold as California was in the first 
decade after it came under the sway of the Americans. 
Should this prove to be the case, it will greatly influence 
the construction of railroads into that region, both from 
Europe and Northern China. The great want now of all 
the border-region of China is efficient transportation and 

* See the Travels of Abbe Hue and Kockhill. 



54: CHINA. 

some idea can be had of the influence of this want upon 
the spread of civilization, when it is remembered that the 
Kuldja expedition, starting from the capital of Kansuh, 
took three years to reach its destination, and was com- 
pelled to halt at the proper seasons, and grow and garner 
the crops which constituted its main source of supply. Afc 
present the camel is the sole means of transport, but, as 
his average burden does not exceed four hundred pounds, 
and the country affords but a scanty supply of the coarsest 
forage-plants, the cost of transport by such means is be- 
yond all proportion to its eflQciency. Nearly all the tea 
used in Siberia and Eussia is carried by camels, and, in 
order that the cost of such carriage may be reduced to its 
smallest relative limit, the tea when properly cured is 
compressed into solid " bricks," from which circumstance 
it is known as " brick-tea." 

But by far the most interesting part of China is the 
Great Plain, which consists of the united deltas of the 
Yang-tse-kiang and Hwang-ho, and extends from Hang- 
chow in latitude 31° north, to Shan-hai-Quan, in lati- 
tude 40° north, or a distance of over six hundred and 
fifty English miles in a right line. Measured on its 
longer axis from the hills northeast of Peking to the 
Poyang Lake, the length is about seven hundred miles. 
It has nearly eleven hundred miles of sea-coast, and its 
greatest width is nearly five hundred miles, while it aver- 
ages about three hundred miles. Its superficial area is 
somewhere between one hundred and fifty thousand and 
one hundred and eighty thousand square miles. It is every- 
where as level as a floor, and almost entirely bare of trees. 
A few are found along the margins of the streams, and 
around the larger fields, or in clumps about the graves of 
the richer families, but there is no such thing as groves 
or forests. Willow, which is used for roofing-poles, and 
elm, which is used for the construction of carts and agri- 



ABSENCE OF TREES FROM THE GREAT PLAIN. 55 

cultural implements, are by far the most common. The 
ailantus, and the jujube, a tree somewhat like the Osage 
orange, but bearing a fruit which, when dried and pre- 
served in honey, resembles the date, are also common. A 
few evergreens, such as the i3ine and the arbor-vit^e, are 
used to shelter the graves of the richer mandarins, and, 
as these are generally planted in a double row around the 
graveyard, they present an inviting object to the eye of 
the traveler, weary with gazing upon the dead and un- 
broken expanse of plain which constantly surrounds him. 
The absence of trees from the plain is natural. Its 
soil is hard, and frequently so impregnated with salt, and 
baked by the sun, that trees would find but little encour- 
agement, even if left free to grow undisturbed by man, 
but in view of the fact that every vestige of vegetation, 
even to the roots of the millet-stalks, is raked off the 
fields and plains by the people, and burned for fuel 
during the winter, it is evident that neither shrub nor 
tree can escape, unless it has special protection. Grass 
and reeds are cut and raked up wherever they are found, 
and all the waste places are invaded, and swept clean of 
the dried and withered vegetation. Even the leaves are 
gathered, and the outer bark of the few trees is in some 
cases scraped off and scrupulously housed for the winter's 
use. One of the most characteristic scenes of the plain 
and hill country, after the cold weather begins, is to see 
men, women, and boys combing the sere and yellow grass 
from the surface of the ground, with ingeniously con- 
structed bamboo rakes, wherever a blade has made its 
appearance. I have seen adventurous boys far up the 
craggy sides of the sacred mountain in Shan-tung, hang- 
ing over beetling cliffs, and exploring every nook and 
bench and every stony fissure for dry gorse and grass, 
with which to cook the scanty meal in the cheerless hut 
of their parents miles away. 



53 CHINA. 

Williams, in describing the hill- country, south of the 
Yang-tse, says that all the raking and scraping which is 
practiced there also is followed by burning over the land 
for the purpose of fertilizing the soil ; but my observation 
tells me that, when the raking and scraping are done, 
there is nothing left to burn. Of course, there are re- 
mote and uncultivated regions, either too low or too salt, 
or too frequently overflowed, or too poorly drained for 
cultivation, or too far out of the way to be entirely de- 
spoiled of their coarse reeds and grass, and these are 
sometimes burned over, but burning is not a common 
IDractice anywhere, and it is generally too wasteful in 
the Chinaman's estimation to be resorted to for the pur- 
pose of fertilizing his land. But with the raking and 
burning, much or little, as the latter may be, the aridity 
of the climate, and the condition and character of the 
soil, I doubt if any considerable part of North China has 
ever been covered by trees, and I am sure the Great Plain 
has not been since the beginning of the present geological 
epoch at least, any more than have the prairies of Illinois 
or the great plains west of the Missouri. 

China proper is sometimes called by the Chinese the 
Central Flowery Kingdom, and somehow or another many 
foreigners have an idea, more or less distinct, that it is a 
land of flowers and shrubbery, if not of sylvan scenery, but 
this is not the case. I have visited the province of Honan, 
which may be regarded as the very heart of the '^ Central 
Flowery Land," and the earliest home of the Chinaman, 
but there is absolutely nothing in its generally flat and 
cheerless landscape to give the slightest foundation to such 
an idea. There are no farm-houses or farm-yards in all the 
Great Plain, and absolutely no such thing as hedge-rows or 
wild flowers, or flower-gardens, so far as I could discover, 
in over two thousand miles of travel in the interior. 
Flowers would, of course, grow there, if cultivated and 



COAL AND IRON BIJFOSITS. 57 

cared for, but it is not the habit of the Chinese to waste 
their efforts on such matters, and my judgment is that 
they do so less than any other people in the world. I 
do not doubt that the few thousands of foreigners and 
missionaries, residing in and near the treaty ports, grow 
more flowers than do the whole Chinese race outside of 
them, and yet the Chinese, when properly taught, become 
yery skillful gardeners, and excel especially as florists. 

Coal and iron are found in nearly every Chinese prov- 
ince, except those lying in the Great Plain, and it is said- 
by Richthofen that the extent of the workable coal-beds, 
and the quantity of coal contained in them, are greater 
than those of any other country of the world. Both 
anthracite and bituminous coal abound, in all qualities, 
from the best Lehigh to the poorest lignite, but the meas- 
ures are not extensively or systematically worked, al- 
though they have been opened in the hills near Peking, 
and perhaps, elsewhere, from the time of Marco Polo. 
There is only one mine in the whole empire, that of Kai- 
ping, about eighty miles east-northeast from Tientsin, at 
the edge of the plain and the foot of the hills, furnished 
with European machinery, and worked under European 
supervision, and even that one, although it mined and 
sold one hundred and thirty thousand tons of excellent 
bituminous coal last year — perhaps half of it to the steam- 
ships visiting the Pei-ho — has not proved to be a busi- 
ness success. This is due mainly to over-capitalization, 
aided by Chinese inexperience and mismanagement. It 
has a most excellent plant, consisting of houses, shafts, 
hoisting and pumping engines, compressors, and a well- 
constructed but light, standard-gauge railroad seven 
miles long, for transporting the output of the colliery 
to the canal which carries it through the plain, twenty- 
one miles to the Peh-tang River. This railroad, the 
only one in China, was opened in 1881, and is ex- 



58 CHINA. 

ceedingly well built. It is laid with thirty-five-pound 
steel rails, furnished with broken stone ballast, and 
first-class appliances of every sort, including two loco- 
motives built in England, and one, the " Eocket of 
China," the first one ever operated on the road, built at 
the company's works at Kaiping, out of old materials. 
Both the road and the engine were built and put into 
operation surreptitiously and without proper government 
warrant or authority. The coal-mining company, com- 
posed exclusively of Chinese capitalists, was authorized to 
open its mines, and to employ foreign experts and for- 
eign methods, in mining and hoisting its coal, but it was 
never dreamed by them that any other means of trans- 
port except those of canal and river would be necessary 
to get the product to market. The Chinese authorities, 
and perhaps even the Chinese promoters of the under- 
taking, assumed that it would be feasible to dig and 
operate a canal from the company's shaft to the Peh-tang 
Eiver ; but when the foreign engineers took the levels of 
the place, and of the uncertain stream in the neighbor- 
hood, it was discovered at once that the mine-opening 
was nearly eighty feet above the level of the plain, that 
a canal was therefore impracticable, and that a tramway 
or railroad seven miles long would be absolutely neces- 
sary. This was made known to the Chinese authorities, 
who reluctantly authorized a tramway to be substituted 
for a part of the canal, but the company was specially 
enjoined to use only horses or mules in hauling the coal 
to the canal. The English engineers, however, went 
quietly to work to build a locomotive, knowing full well 
that nothing else would answer their purpose. Knowl- 
edge of this leaked out through the Chinese mechanics, 
and reached the ears of the authorities shortly afterward. 
Orders were at once issued to stop work on the '' strange 
machine," and this was done ; but after a while, when sus. 



THE KAIPING COAL-MINE. 59 

picion had been allayed, work upon it was resumed, and 
in due time it was finished and put successfully in oper- 
ation. The railroad being in an out-of-the-way region, 
and remote from all the principal highways, was ignored 
by the authorities, and no notice has yet been taken of its 
existence, or of the operation of locomotives upon it by 
the Imperial Grovernment. Curiously enough, no high 
Chinese official has ever been near it, and so long as it 
remains unrecognized by the imperial authorities, no 
great official is likely to visit or inspect it, and yet it is 
to be extended immediately to the Peh-tang Eiver, under 
some kind of license from the provincial government, 
based upon the need of the northern fleet for coal and 
the fact that the canal from the end of the railroad to the 
river has proved to be entirely unequal to the business 
for which it was intended. It is both too narrow and 
too shallow, and although it could be both widened and 
deepened to the requisite extent, for much less money 
than the railroad will cost, the fact still remains that it 
freezes up for over three months every winter, and for 
that period becomes entirely impassable and useless. 

The company has constructed extensive buildings for 
the accommodation of a school of engineering and min- 
ing, which has never been opened, and another set at 
either end of the railroad, for the reception and enter- 
tainment of distinguished official visitors, who have never 
made their appearance. It employs, besides, a large num- 
ber of useless Chinese servants, and conducts its busi- 
ness in a wasteful and extravagant manner, subject to the 
countless squeezes and exactions which characterize all 
Chinese undertakings of a public character. The foreign 
officials are exceedingly capable and clever men, but their 
functions are strictly technical, and do not in any way 
involve or control the commercial affairs of the company. 

A coal-mine, under English management, was opened 



60 CHINA. 

and furnished with foreign plant, near Kelung, in the 
Island of Formosa, several years ago, but it was aban- 
doned and destroyed, to prevent its falling into the 
hands of the French during their recent occupancy of 
that island. These mines are now worked by the na- 
tives in the old way, as are others in the hills near Pe- 
king, in the provinces of Shan-tung and Shansi, and also 
on the Yang-tse-kiang. 

The coal from the hills near Peking is an excellent 
anthracite, but it is understood that the measures are 
too thin for extensive workings with foreign plant and 
appliances. The coal of Southern Shansi is of the very 
finest variety of anthracite, and exists in thick beds of 
great extent. It is hauled in wheelbarrows to the 
Hwang-ho, and transported to Kai-fung-fu, and other 
points farther down the river, in considerable quantities. 
It is also distributed throughout the surrounding country 
for several hurdred miles in wheelbarrows, each of which 
is directed by a man between the handles, and hauled by 
one or two donkeys, and carries from three hundred and 
fifty to four hundred pounds. Notwithstanding the cheap- 
ness of labor, and of food for both man and beast, coal 
transported in this way for any considerable distance be- 
comes a costly luxury, entirely beyond the reach of the 
common people. It is used in small quantities by the 
rich, and by the public cooks. Coal is also sent to 
market by water from the mines on the banks of the 
Yang-tse, and will, of course, bear transportation in that 
way to much more considerable distances than by land, 
as above described. 

Notwithstanding the great abundance of coal, and the 
cheapness with which it can be mined, its consumption is 
in its infancy in China, and nothing but the introduc- 
tion of railroads and modern methods of mining can 
bring it into general use by the people. 



MINERAL RESOURCES UNDEVELOPED. 61 

Iron-ores are almost as widely distributed as coal, but 
little or nothing of their character and economic value 
is known. No systematic surveys or exploitations have 
been made of the ore-beds, and there is not a blast-fur- 
nace in the whole empire. What little iron is used by 
the Chinese is either imported from foreign countries, 
mostly in the form of nail-rods and old scrap, or is made 
in the remote districts in the most primitive manner. 
Other minerals, and especially copper, silver, and gold, 
exist in various parts of the empire, but they have neither 
been sought for nor worked in any systematic or scientific 
way. Special exploitations and examinations have been 
made by foreign experts, and some efforts based thereon 
have been made to establish smelting- works for the re- 
duction of copper-ores, large quantities of which metal 
are used for making casli, the only currency of the coun- 
try, but I failed to learn that any of the copper-mines 
or smelting-works had yet been worked at a profit. 
Much of the copper used is imported from Japan and 
other foreign countries. 

The fact is that China, notwithstanding its abundant 
supply of ores and coal, is behind every other civilized 
country in mining and metallurgy. She has no experts, 
and no scientific knowledge, and has made absolutely no 
progress in respect to these matters for the last five hun- 
dred years ; but there are some faint indications that a 
few of her leading statesmen, and especially Li Hung- 
Chang, the Marquis Tseng, and such as have visited for- 
eign countries as ministers and consuls, have come to 
recognize the importance of these industries to the com- 
mercial and manufacturing interests, as well as to the 
national defense. They at least have begun to ask West- 
ern powers for geologists, mining-engineers, metallurgists, 
and iron-masters, and it is safe to say that large numbers 
of such men must sooner or later find employment in 



62 CHINA. 

China. It will be many years before that country can 
educate its own youth for such occupations, not only be- 
cause they have no competent teachers or schools, but 
because the language itself has no scientific nomencla- 
ture whatever connected with it. Not only the scientific 
ideas, but the words themselves, must be introduced into 
the Chinese mind and language, and this, in a country 
where no system of popular education prevails, and no 
universally spoken dialect exists, is an exceedingly diffi- 
cult task to accomplish. 

A greater difficulty, however, than that remains to be 
overcome before any substantial advance can be made in 
mining or metallurgy, or, in fact, in anything else pro- 
gressive, and that is, such a regeneration of the Imperial 
Government as will make it the leader of the Chinese 
people in the march of modern progress, instead of the 
jealous guardian of their conservatism in self-conceit, ig- 
norance, and superstition, as it now is. So long as the 
present condition of affairs prevails, no scientific or pro- 
fessional man should go to China for employment, except 
under contract with the Government or some properly 
authorized and responsible official. The time may come 
when all this may be changed, but it has not come yet. 



CHAPTER YI. 

Population of China — No complete census ever taken — The country not 
overcrowded — Influence of famines, rebellions, pestilence, and floods 
■•—Reproduction normal and active — Population probably greater than 
ever before — Country capable of supporting three times as many 
inhabitants — Origin of the Chinese race — Physical characteristics — 
Compression of feet — Manchus do not practice the custom — Its 
origin — Failure to practice it looked upon as evidence of abject pov- 
erty and distress — Food of the Chinese people — Domestic animals. 

The population of China has never been accurately 
enumerated, and no such thing as a scientific and com- 
plete census, such as is now regarded as absolutely neces- 
sary by all modern goyernments, has ever been conceived, 
much less undertaken, by the Imperial Chinese Govern- 
ment. All statements concerning the population of the 
country are, therefore, but little better than mere guesses, 
based upon partial enumerations, for purposes of taxa- 
tion. All authorities agree in saying that the best one 
ever made was that of 1812, at which time the eighteen 
provinces (Formosa was then included in Fo-kien) of 
China proper were estimated to contain 362,447,183 
souls, or an average of about 200 to the square mile. In 
1868 the Eussian statistician Vassilivitch gave the pop- 
ulation at 404,946,514 ; and in 1881 the Imperial Mari- 
time Customs reports gave it at 380,000,000. None of 
these reports include any estimate of the population of 
Corea, Manchuria, Mongolia, Hi, or Thibet, but as they are 



64 CHINA. 

all thinly settled, except Corea, which claims a quasi-m- 
dependence, the actual figures, even if they could be had, 
would probably not materially change the grand aggre- 
gate, while figures obtained by guessing are worse than 
useless. Withal, some travelers' haye estimated the en- 
tire population of the empire as high as 500,000,000, 
while others have placed it as low as 300,000,000. As 
to the probable correctness of these estimates, and for 
various interesting details connected therewith, reference 
should be made to Williams's '^ Middle Kingdom," where 
they are fully set forth and discussed. I have no data 
not found in that admirable work, or in other books of 
travel, but I have a decided conviction, based upon my 
own observation, that the population of the entire em- 
pire can not exceed 360,000,000. I have traveled exten- 
sively in Northern China, and especially in the Great 
Plain, which is considered by all authorities as one of the 
most 1?hickly settled regions of the empire, and yet I saw 
no evidence whatever of overcrowding, or, indeed, of 
any extraordinary density of population. The hamlets^ 
villages, and towns, into which the entire population is 
gathered, are thickly studded over parts of the plain, but 
they are neither so plentiful nor so large as to convey the 
idea that there is not room for more, or for greater 
growth of those which already exist. Besides, there are 
considerable reaches of unsettled or thinly settled coun- 
try in which the villages are small and widely separated. 
In the hill country, much of which is rough and not ara- 
ble, the population is still thinner, and, notwithstanding 
the fact that, with all deductions and allowances, China 
contains from one fifth to one third of all the people in 
the world, I do not doubt it could support three times as 
many as now inhabit it, if all its land were brought under 
proper cultivation, and it were provided with a properly 
located system of railroads between the various provinces 



INFLUENCE OF FAMINE, 65 

and outlying dependencies, for the purpose of in- 
terchanging their different productions one with an- 
other. 

Frightful famines have occurred frequently in Shansi 
and Shensi, and in various other parts of the Empire, and 
owing to the peculiar meteorological conditions which 
prevail, especially in Northern China, are likely to occur 
again, at intervals, for all time. It is estimated that over 
ten million people died from starvation about ten years 
ago in Shansi and Shensi alone, while abundance and 
plenty were prevailing in other parts of the country. 
Every effort was made, both by the foreigners and by the 
Imperial Grovernment, to send food into the stricken re- 
gion, but owing to the great distances to be traversed, and 
the entire absence of river and canal navigation, as well 
as of railroads, but few of the suffering multitude could 
be reached in time to save their lives. Eeligious and 
political disturbances and rebellions have also prevailed 
in various parts of the empire, especially in the south- 
ern, southeastern, and western provinces, and the wars for 
their suppression have carried off many millions of people. 
As before stated, the Taiping rebellion alone is estimated 
to have resulted in the death of over ten million people in 
the fourteen years of its duration. Pestilence and floods 
have also aided in the work of destruction ; and, besides 
all these, it is undoubtedly true that in some regions 
population has crowded close upon the limits of the reg- 
ular food-supply, and that, with the aid of infanticide, 
which is prevalent, especially in the south, has strongly 
tended to j)revent any rapid increase of population. At 
all events, the common impression is, that the population 
has not materially increased since 1812. How far this 
impression is well founded I do not undertake to say, 
but I must add that my own observations would rather 
discredit than sustain it. It seems to me far more likely 



that neither the census of 1812, nor any other, was accu- 
rately taken, than that reproduction has been suspended 
in any degree, or that famine, pestilence, and war, all 
combined, could have killed faster than the tremendous 
aggregate force of that instinct in a population of 360,- 
000,000 human beings could increase the race under any 
circumstances which could possibly exist, even in China. 
It is a perfectly well settled custom that every male 
Chinaman must marry soon after he comes of age, and 
that presupposes at least one wife for every such male. 
Polygamy is allowed, but not generally practiced among 
the common people, hence the influence of that institu- 
tion may be ignored. It is also well understood that 
every man must have at least one son, either of his own 
body or by adoption, to reverence him while living, and 
to worship him after death ; therefore reproduction is a 
religious as well as a natural and political duty, and as a 
matter of fact it seems to flourish as well in China as 
elsewhere. In all my travels I saw children of both 
sexes in abundance, and they seemed to be as healthy, 
happy, and well cared for generally, as in any other 
country I ever visited. ' The fact is, that the Chinese not 
only possess the same instincts which characterize the 
human race in other countries, but the same virtues an(i 
the same vices in about the same degree as other people 
of the same grade of civilization. They appear to be 
naturally fond of children, and to take as good care of 
them as of themselves ; and while it is true that 
girls are not so highly prized as boys, and are conse- 
quently more frequently made away with, there is no 
scarcity of them, so far as I could perceive, in any region 
visited by me. 

From all these circumstances I believe that the popu- 
lation of China is now greater than ever before ; that it 
is steadily, though perhaps not rapidly, increasing ; and 



POPULATION- INGBEA8ING. 67 

that, with the introduction of the appliances and varied 
industries of modern progress, it will increase more rap- 
idly hereafter than ever before. The introduction of rail- 
roads, the opening of mines, the construction of furnaces 
and rolling-mills, and the establishment of manufacto- 
ries, will be followed by a rise in wages, which, in turn, 
will bring increased comfort in clothing and habitation, 
as well as an increased demand for and a wider and more 
perfect distribution of food of all kinds now grown by 
the Chinese, and of many kinds produced only by foreign 
nations. The appliances for the support and conserva- 
tion of life will become greater and better exactly in the 
same proportion as the progressive movement, after it is 
once well under way, develops itself. This is the result 
which has followed in every other country, and there is 
no reason whatever for supposing that a different one 
will follow in China. 

I shall not undertake to give the ethnographic history 
of the Chinese race, further than to say that it belongs to 
the great Turanian or yellow stock, and it has doubtless 
inhabited China from the remotest ages of the past. 
Some writers believe that it was created or originated on 
the soil which it now inhabits, and in view of the complete 
isolation by the sandy and arid region which surrounds 
it on the land-side and separates it from Europe, and by 
the boundless sea which separates it from the rest of the 
world, there is nothing improbable in this suggestion. 
It has always seemed to me much more natural that the 
various branches of the human race should have been 
evolved in countries perfectly adapted to their wants, 
than that they should have had a common origin in a 
remote, inhospitable, and inaccessible region of Central 
Asia, as is so commonly believed to have been the case. 

Such writers as believe that the race came into China 
from the northwest — and the Chinese themselves seem 



68 CEmA. 

generally to share this belief — contend that its line of 
progress was down the yalley of the Hwang-ho rather than 
that of the Yang-tse, and that they first took firm root 
in the rich plains of the province of Honan, from which 
^' Central Flowery Land" they spread over and possessed 
all of Southeastern Asia. Be this as it may (and there is 
no trustworthy historical evidence upon which to affirm 
or deny the theory)^ the race has certainly displaced or 
absorbed all others of the land, and seems to be one of 
great vigor and vitality. The people of the north are in 
some degree fairer, larger, and stronger than those of the 
south, and this is not inconsistent with a common origin 
and substantial freedom from adulteration. Whatever 
differentiation has taken place, may have been and 
doubtless was, due to climatic influences, rather than to 
intermixture with autocthonous or Maylasian races. 

So far as an observer untrained in ethnological studies 
can perceive, the Chinese are a remarkably homogeneous 
people. They differ but little in face or feature, whether 
they belong to one class or another, or to the same or dif- 
ferent provinces. They are generally up to the average 
size of Europeans, and I should say considerably above 
that of the French. Curiously enough, there is nothing 
but rank and station to distinguish the Manchu man- 
darins from the Chinese. They all wear similar cos- 
tumes in similar grades and stations of life, and look as 
though they might belong to exactly the same stock, al- 
though the Manchus are a conquering race, or, should I 
not say, a conquering tribe of the same race ? Their 
eyes, hair, and skin are about the same color, and to all 
oasual observers their manners and customs are the same 
in nearly every respect. The males all shave their heads 
and wear queues, but this custom is said to have been 
distinctly Manchurian in its origin, and to have been 
forced upon the Chinese at the time of the Manchu con- 



COMPBESSIOI^ OF THE FEET, 69 

quest, whicli took place between 1635 and 1644 A. d., as 
a sign of subjugation and submission. 

There is one notable difference in the customs of the 
Manchus and the Chinese. The women of the latter, 
everywhere and in every station of life, rich and poor, 
mandarin and coolie alike, have their feet compressed, 
while those of the Manchu women, from the empress 
down through the imperial clan, to the wives and daugh- 
ters of the common soldiers, permit their feet to grow to 
their natural size. The custom of compressing the feet 
has prevailed for several hundred years, and is said to 
have had its origin among the Chinese from the circum- 
stance that a beautiful princess had club-feet, and that 
she concealed the fact so completely by the skill with 
which she disguised her deformity that she was not only 
greatly admired, but it became the fashion for all the 
ladies of the court to imitate her in everything, even in 
the effort to make their feet look small. Tradition has 
it that compression was resorted to for this purpose, and 
that the fashion spread to the people, and gradually be- 
came a confirmed custom. This explanation is the most 
commonly accepted one, but it is not entirely satisfactory 
to me. 

There is also a tradition that the practice was at first 
resorted to by some cruel and crusty husband for the pur- 
pose of keeping his wife and daughters from '' going a- 
gadding," and that it was found to work so well that his 
neighbors also adopted it, and that it spread throughout 
the country. Finally, it has been suggested that, what- 
ever may have been the origin of the custom, it is re- 
tained because the male sex has come to admire the 
effect of it upon the female figure. The physical result 
of the practice is to bring the feet dov/n to mere callous 
points, to reduce the size of the ankle correspondingly, 
and to obliterate the calf of the leg entirely, so that the 



70 CEmA, 

figure tapers rapidly from the hips to the ends of the toes, 
and the more completely this is done the more nearly 
the form approaches the highest Chinese ideal of beauty. 

I have heard it asked if the practice had produced 
any influence in decreasing the size of the normal Chinese 
foot, and, while this raises a curious question in heredity 
and natural selection, I can not say that it can be an- 
swered in the affirmative. Both Chinese men and women, 
in their natural condition, have hands and feet which 
might be properly called small, but I could not perceive 
that the feet of the men are unusually small, nor do I be- 
lieve they are so. 

As before observed, the custom of compressing the 
feet of the girl-children is universal among the people 
of TsTorth China. The common belief among foreigners 
who have never been in China is, that the custom is 
confined to the better classes, but such is not the fact. 
It is practiced by every walk and condition of life, from 
the highest and richest to the lowest and poorest. Occa- 
sionally, a poor little houseless and homeless waif may be 
seen with natural feet, but this is looked upon as the 
crowning evidence of* her abject poverty and friendless- 
ness. I once heard a most intelligent and sympathetic 
missionary lady, in the interior of Northern China, de- 
clare that nothing so moved her pity as to see a Chinese 
girl so utterly bereft of every human care, so lonely and 
abject in her poverty and distress, as to have no one in 
the world who thought enough of her to compress her 
feet ! When I expressed my astonishment at her remark, 
and asked her if she did not regard the custom as about 
the worst and most cruel of all Chinese customs, she 
promptly said : ^^ Oh, yes ! it is as bad as it can be, when 
practiced by a whole people, and, if I were empress, the 
first edict I would issue would be to abolish it ; but so 
long as it is the custom, I only know one thing worse. 



FOOD OF THE CHINESE. 71 

and that is not to follow it in the individual case, for 
that betokens a depth of sorrow, loneliness, and poverty, 
beyond which there is no lower depth possible for even a 
Chinese child." 

After seeing the Chinese people under all conditions 
of life, and in many remote and widely separated parts of 
the empire, I am compelled to say that they seem to me 
to be remarkably strong, robust, and healthy, and to be 
specially free from consumption and all other forms of 
constitutional disease. It is quite true that diseases of 
the skin and scalp prevail, but they seem to be altogether 
due to an insufficient use of water and soap, if not to a 
positive aversion to those hygienic necessities. They also 
seem everywhere to be well fed and comfortably though 
cheaply clad. Their food is mostly composed of vege- 
tables and fish, rice, of course, forming the chief depend- 
ence, especially in the southern and eastern provinces, 
where it is grown, and indeed everywhere else, within 
reach of the means of transportation. Wheat is grown 
and used extensively in the country adjacent to the Yel- 
low Eiver, where it matures and is garnered generally 
before the coming of the summer floods. It is ground 
into a coarse flour by the primitive means employed in all 
Oriental countries, and made into unleavened cakes, or 
into bread, which, owing to the scarcity of fuel, is boiled 
instead of baked. The loaves, if I may call them loaves, 
are about the size of apple-dumplings, and look more like 
them than anything else. They are said to be a very 
good substitute for the bread of the foreigners when 
sliced and toasted. In out-of-the-way places, where nei- 
ther rice nor wheat can be had, millet is used, and that 
is also ground, boiled, mixed with dried fruits, prin- 
cipally the jujube, and sold in slices, cut from the mass 
as called for. Cabbage of various kinds is grown nearly 
everywhere, and, boiled with sea-weed, in order to in- 



72 CEmA, 

crease the yolume and season the cabbage with the salt 
which it contains, enters largely into the diet of the peo- 
ple. Sweet-potatoes are grown and consumed in the 
greatest abundance. Eadishes and pulse-foods of yarious 
sorts are cultivated ; persimmons as large as tomatoes are 
common ; but, generally speaking, the country is not rich 
in fruits. The jujube is, perhaps, the most common 
fruit in North China. It is called the date by foreigners, 
but grows upon a tree which resembles the Osage orange 
more than any other in shape and size. The fruit itself 
when dried and preserved in honey is very palatable, and 
not at all unlike the date. Excellent peaches are grown 
on the Yang-tse, and both apples and pears are found far- 
ther north, but they are of inferior quality. Graj)es are 
also found in the north, and are kept through the winter 
by burying. There are several varieties of them, two 
of which are large and luscious. Oranges, prunellos, 
cumquats, loquats, lychees, and lemons grow in the 
south, and are carried in small quantities by itinerant 
fruit- venders to the principal cities of the country. Ber- 
ries and small fruits are unknown except to the foreign- 
ers, for whom they fire grown in small quantities near 
the settlements. The extended sea-coast, and the great 
number of canals, rivers, and ponds, are peculiarly fa- 
vorable to fish, and they are caught and used in great 
numbers. The Chinese are skillful, and have many 
ingenious methods of taking fish. Nothing that lives in 
water can escape them, or comes amiss when captured. 
They use every kind and variety of fish, and, what they 
can not use fresh, they dry and salt for transportation to 
the interior, so that the average Chinaman's most regular 
and constant diet is rice and fish. The best fish known 
to him is the sam-lai, which is identical with our shad. 
It is highly prized by the mandarins and grandees of Pe- 
king. Meat is but little used. 



FOOD OF, TEE CEINESE. Y3 

Beef is practically unknown, except near tlie princi- 
pal foreign settlements. Mutton is much, more common, 
especially in Northern China, where the broad or fat- 
tailed Mongolian sheep are raised in sufficient numbers 
to supply the foreigners, and the richer Chinese, who use 
it sparingly. It is of excellent quality, quite equal when 
in proper condition to the best Southdown mutton. Pork 
is the national flesh-food of the Chinese, and roast suck- 
ing-pig the yiece de r&sistance of every feast, but as the 
hog is a natural scavenger, and permitted to roam at 
large in the dirt and filth of every town and village, the 
idea of eating pork in China is particularly oflensive to 
most travelers. Ducks and common barn-yard chickens 
are found everywhere, and enter largely into the food of 
the people. Eggs can always be had in abundance and 
good condition. G-ame-birds, especially pheasants, par- 
tridges, ducks, and snipe, abound in the country along 
the Yang-tse and its tributaries, and are very good. 
Venison, hare, pheasants, and an occasional bustard, are 
brought to the Peking market from Mongolia, but such 
food is reserved for foreigners and wealthy mandarins, 
and is hardly ever eaten by the common people. But 
little milk is produced, and that only for the foreigners. 
Generally speaking, food is cheap and good, and the na- 
tives appear to be Avell fed, while the foreigner can get 
practically everything he would find in the most favored 
regions of Europe or America. 

The Chinese keep but few domestic animals. Dogs 
are found everywhere, and of many kinds, but the com- 
mon dog of the country is a mongrel of decidedly wolfish 
characteristics, although he is noisy rather than fierce. 
He seems to receive but little care, and to be regarded 
rather with indifference than interest. No one pays 
much attention, to him, and when he flies out, after the 
manner of dogs in all countries, at the passing stranger, 
5 



74 CHINA, 

and receives a slashing cut with a riding-whip for his 
pains, as he frequently did from my party, he yelps with 
mingled fury and astonishment, but, instead of arousing 
the sympathy of his owner by his outcry, he generally 
finds himself laughed at by the by-standers, as though his 
misfortune were a good joke. 

The most common beast of burden in Central and 
Southeastern China and Formosa is the water-buffalo, or 
Bos 'bubalos, though common domestic cattle are found in 
small numbers, and without reference to sex are used 
for plowing and working in carts. Ponies of the Mongo- 
lian or Tartar type are found nearly eyerywhere ; don- 
keys of excellent breed are still more common, and are 
used both for riding and draught purposes. Some of them 
are extremely agile and well broken to the saddle, but they 
are used only by the common people. Mules are exten- 
siyely bred in the north, and are as fine as the finest of 
Kentucky. They are greatly prized in Peking and the 
other chief cities, where they are used exclusively in the 
carts of the upper classes. There are no flocks or herds 
of any kind, all domestic animals being held and cared for 
in small numbers. I have frequently seen a pair of sheep, 
or a single cow, or donkey, or a couple of geese, watched 
over, while feeding in the field, by a boy or a grown 
man, but never more than a half-dozen animals of any 
kind (except chickens or ducks) at one time or in one 
place. All the coal brought into Peking, and all the tea 
and merchandise taken from Peking into Mongolia and 
Siberia, is carried on the backs of camels, but they are 
not found or used elsewhere in the Great Plain, 



CHAPTER VII. 

The houses of the Chinese — The clothing — The great public works — The 
walled cities — The only crystallized and accumulated labor of the 
Chinese — The effect of depopulation — The common people every- 
where poor — No system of popular education — No conception of or 
vocabulary for science — Diversity of dialects — The classical or liter- 
ary language of the country — The greater wall of China — Chinese 
civilization — The characteristics of the race — Arrested development 
— Future progress. 

The houses of the common Chinese are nearly every- 
where built of sun-dried brick, and covered with thatch 
of millet-stalks resting on rafters of willow poles. In 
the hill country, where rock can be had, it is substituted ; 
and, in the extreme south, bamboos are used for building 
purposes. The richer people, who are very scarce, as 
compared with the multitude, build of fire-burned bricks, 
which are generally of a gray color and much larger than 
the bricks used in foreign countries. When the house is 
built of burned bricks it is coyered with tiles of the same 
material, laid on a bed of mud mixed with cut straw. 
But little wood is used in the construction of houses. 
The doors, sashes, and scanty furniture, are made of 
boards, but the floors are either of clay smoothed down, 
or of burned paving-tiles made of the same clay and laid 
in about the same way as the roofing-tiles. The windows 
of the common houses are small, and filled with thin 
white paper, while those of the better class are larger. 



76 CHINA. 

and occasionally have a single pane of glass in the cen- 
ter surrounded by paper. There are no fireplaces, but 
nearly every house is furnished with a kang, or a raised, 
solid platform, of the same materials as the wall. It ex- 
tends across one end of the room, and is furnished with a 
small furnace and flue, for the purpose of heating it dur- 
ing the night when it is used as a sleeping-place for the 
family ; but I am compelled to say that, in nearly three 
thousand miles of travel in midwinter, between the Yel- 
low Eiver and the Great Wall, I never saw one of these 
kangs which had been warmed up, or in which my 
servants could even start a fire. Whether there is a kang 
or not, there is an open furnace in every house, or con- 
nected with it, and which may either have a flue or a 
short clay chimney, and this is used for heating water 
and cooking, but these furnaces and their appurtenances 
are exceedingly rude, and frequently smoke about as badly 
as would an open fire built on the floor. Fuel, as before 
explained, is everywhere scarce, and hence fire is used 
only for cooking, never for warming the house, of even 
the rich, and this renders it necessary for the people to 
keep themselves warm during winter entirely by clothing, 
although the best houses sometimes have an open basin 
of charcoal burning in the best room ; but even then they 
are cold and cheerless, for while the walls and roofs are 
close and tight, the windows and doors are poorly made, 
loosely fitted, and nearly always left open or on the slam. 
To add to the national discomfort, nothing is ever re- 
paired, so that when decay begins it continues till the 
ruin is complete, and the discomfort becomes unbearable 
even to a Chinaman. 

The clothing of the poor in China is made of cotton, 
and never anything else. It is nearly always dyed blue, 
and in winter is wadded and quilted. Occasionally, men 
whose occupation requires them to live out-of-doors in 



CLOTHING OF THE CHINESE. 77 

Northern China, wear sheep-skin oyercoats and hoods. 
Woolen cloth, which is now being imported in small 
quantities, is but little worn, and never by any except 
rich people. Silk and furs constitute the dress of the 
high officials and mandarins, and also of the well-to-do 
merchants, compradors and upper servants in public, or 
while engaged in receiving visitors or making calls, but it 
is said that they are laid aside even by the richest for 
cotton garments as soon as the special occasion which 
demanded their use has gone by. To people accustomed 
to the warm and abundant woolen clothing of Europe 
and America, the mere suggestion of cotton for winter 
use conveys an idea of chilliness ; but, so far as I could 
ascertain, it proves ample, when wadded and worn in a 
sufficient number of layers, to keep the Chinese warm and 
comfortable. 

Cotton is grown in nearly every province of China, 
bnt it is of short fiber, and good only for the rougher 
and coarser fabrics. Every Chinese family in the interior 
does its own spinning and weaving, and nearly all its 
own dyeing. But, of later years, cotton sheetings, drills, 
and jeans, from the United States, have come into general 
favor, and their importation is rapidly on the increase. 
With proper enterprise this trade can not only be held 
but largely extended. The English and Cermans are 
doing everything in their power, even to the imitation 
of brands and trade-marks, to take it away from the 
Americans, but a strict adherence to the high standards 
heretofore established, with a close observance of the re- 
quirements of the Chinese consumers, by the American 
manufacturer and merchant, can not fail to keej) them in 
the lead, at least in this line of business. 

While there seems to be but little want or suffering 
even in the poorer districts of China, except during the 
prevalence of floods or famine, it is evident to the most 



78 CHIN-A. 

casual observer that there is never any great surphis of 
food or clothing, and that the masses live literally from 
hand to mouth now, as they have always lived. They 
are a strictly agricultural people, and have neither mines, 
furnaces, rolling-mills, nor manufacturing establish- 
ments. They live in poor habitations, and have no grand 
buildings constructed of stone and iron. Even their 
largest temples and government offices are badly de- 
signed, built of perishable materials, and are poorly kept. 
They have no enduring monuments, and no public 
works, except the Great Wall, the Grand Canal, and a 
few large river embankments. The first is a work of 
stupendous magnitude, and, although now out of date, 
must have been, when honestly defended, entirely effi- 
cacious in keeping the northern hordes out of China 
proper. The Grand Canal, although extending almost 
from one end of the empire to the other, must have al- 
ways been a disappointment and an expense to the Impe- 
rial Government, if not to the Chinese people, and prin- 
cipally for the reason that, having no locks, and no 
proper means of regulating and economizing the water- 
supply, it must have "been subject to frequent and vexa- 
tious interruptions and breaks, to the serious detriment 
of navigation. 

There is one other form of public work which strikes 
the traveler with wonder. I refer, of course, to the 
walls of fire-burned brick which surround every great 
city throughout the empire. They are generally from 
thirty to forty feet high, from twenty to forty feet thick, 
surrounded by wide moats, and surmounted by crenel- 
ated parapets, broken by towers and buttresses at frequent 
intervals, pierced by arched and carefully fortified gate- 
ways, in which strongly framed gates, covered with iron 
plates and studded with iron spikes, swing heavily every 
night and morning, now, as they doubtless did a thou- 



CITY WALLS. Y9 

sand years ago. Some of these walls are as mucli as 
forty miles around, and, like those of Nanking and Kai- 
fung-fu, include within them many hundreds of acres of 
land upon which there are no buildings whatever. It 
might be supposed that these walls were all erected dur- 
ing the time corresponding to the feudal period of Eu- 
rope, and certainly many of them were ; but I doubt not 
more than one has been built in this century, and that 
if a new capital were selected for any one of the proy- 
inces, even at this late day, the governor-general would 
surely surround it with a wall exactly in the style of those 
built during the reign of Kublai Khan. This is no vague 
supposition, but is based upon an actual occurrence which 
took place in Formosa since the close of the last Franco- 
Chinese war. It was found that the old capital of that 
beautiful and fertile island was too far south, and had 
too poor a port, to permit its being reached readily, 
and so the governor-general was authorized to select a 
new one farther north. In the exercise of sound judg- 
ment, he selected a spot on the open plain near Twatutia, 
on the Tamsui Eiver, about twelve miles from the sea, 
named it Tai-pak-fu, and at once surrounded it by a cut- 
stone wall of full dimensions, over two miles around, 
built in the style and furnished with all the ancient and 
antiquated glories of the hoary past. The interior is 
dotted about by the buildings of the governor-general's 
yamen, but nine tenths of the space inclosed is covered 
by a paddy-field. 

Whether this wall was erected at the special direction 
of the Peking Grovernment, or merely by its tacit per- 
mission, in pursuance of immemorial custom, I could 
not ascertain ; but in view of the fact that it is within a 
mile of two cities, either said to contain over a hundred 
thousand inhabitants, it may be that the governor-gen- 
eral thought he would be safer, within its enceinte, from 



80 CHINA. 

insurrection, or a sudden rush of the people, than he 
would be in either city or in an open camp, and in this 
he is clearly right, if he can only depend upon the fidel- 
ity of his guard. 

The great works just enumerated constitute the only 
crystallized and accumulated labor of the Chinese people, 
through all the ages of their residence in China ; and 
while they are really great, and represent the toil of 
many millions of men, they are all of a public character, 
and bear testimony rather to the slavery of the subject 
than to the intelligence of the Goyernment. When one 
considers the unlimited authority of the Chinese EmjDe- 
rors, and the countless millions under their control, and 
which haye been under their control for so many gener- 
ations, the only wonder is that still greater works, of a 
higher and better class, haye not been left as monuments 
to their wisdom and power. As it is, it is hardly too 
much to say that, if China should become depopulated 
and remain so for ten years, the traveler could discover 
but few traces of human occupation anywhere within her 
far-reaching limits, except the ruins of these great works. 
Barring its undeveloped mineral resources, and its inex- 
haustible supply of docile and patient labor, China • is 
an exceedingly poor country. What little wealth it con- 
tains is in the hands of the literary and official class, 
and of the merchants, who are at most and altogether 
only as one in ten thousand. Even they are compelled 
to conceal it as much as possible. They generally live 
modestly and quietly, avoiding state and display, and 
putting their surplus money into clothing, embroideries, 
porcelains, notes, mortgages, and such things as do not 
unduly attract the attention of the tax-gatherer, the im- 
perial or provincial authorities, or of the curious and evil- 
disposed. 

The common people are everywhere poor, and have 



NO OVEB-PBODUGTION IN CHINA. 81 

but little surplus money and no surplus productions. 
Whatever may be the case in foreign countries, in these 
days of railroads and steam-machinery, there is no oyer- 
production in China. To the contrary, it could readily 
buy more, produce more, consume more, and lay up 
or accumulate more, if it could only sell more. It would 
buy more cotton cloth, more iron, more matches, and 
needles, and thread ; more and better building materials 
and machinery ; more guns, and steamships, and iron- 
clads ; and in the end it would liye better, build better 
houses, erect furnaces and rolling-mills, and lay out and 
construct railroads, if it could only sell more tea and silk. 
These articles constitute at present the greater part of 
what it has to sell ; but the Chinese are like the rest of 
mankind, and may be depended upon, in the long run, to 
produce whatever they can sell, either at home or abroad, 
at a profit. They can not be said to want what they 
can not form any conception of. Ignorance is every- 
where an effectual bar to aspiration and improvement, 
and the Chinese are especially ignorant in reference to 
everything which goes to make up what foreigners call 
modern progress. They have no conception of science, 
and no vocabulary in which to formulate its principles, 
or to make known its wonderful revelations. They have 
stood absolutely still in knowledge since the middle ages. 
The discoveries of Galileo, Newton, and Laplace are a 
sealed book to them. They have but little conception of 
mathematics, and none of chemistry, mineralogy, and 
geology.. They are entirely ignorant of thermo-dynam- 
ics and of mechanics, and almost so of mining and met- 
allurgy. They do not pretend to understand political 
economy as it is taught in Western countries ; and, what 
is worse than all else, they have no system of popular 
education. According to the best authorities, not over 
one man in every hundred, nor one woman in every 



82 CHmA. 

thousand, can read and write ; but even if this were not 
the case, there is no popular or common language which 
is everywhere understood. Every province has its own 
dialect, which is not only different from that of every 
other province, but is still more widely different from the 
literary language of the country, which is also the lan- 
guage of Peking and the imperial court. But then, 
again, the colloquial language of the official class and the 
literati is entirely different from the written language of 
the classics, in which every great idea must be clothed 
and every great man must express himself. So it will be 
seen that science and religion are alike fettered in this 
curious country, the civilization of which is as separate 
and distinct from ours as if it had originated in another 
planet. 

The Great Wall of China was built of earth and stone 
over two thousand years ago ; it has been enlarged, ex- 
tended, and repaired many times since, but, notwithstand- 
ing all this, it has been often broken through by the 
Tartars in their onward march of conquest and plun- 
der ; but the greater w,all of China is its language, which 
has never, within the historic period, been changed or 
improved, but stands now as firmly as when it first took 
form, an inflexible monosyllabic barrier to modern 
thought and modern progress. It is far more difficult 
for the teacher of modern science to cross effectively, 
even without opposition, than the wall of stone and earth 
ever was to the Mongolian or Manchu conqueror, de- 
fended by the whole Chinese race ; and yet the example 
of Japan, which, forty years ago, was the most exclusive 
nation in the world, with a language as antiquated and 
difficult to master, should encourage us to believe that 
even this greater wall of China can not stay the march 
of modern progress much longer, or even turn it from its 
destined course. 



ITEED OF MODERN- IMPROVEMENTS. 83 

It is folly to contend that the Chinese, as a people, 
want any of the things to which I have alluded, for 
Want in this sense presupposes an intelligent under- 
standing of the things wanted, which I haye shown to 
be impossible to the average Chinaman, in the present 
condition of his language and education ; but, as I shall 
point out more particularly hereafter, he has as great a 
need of railroads, furnaces, rolling-mills, mines, and fac- 
tories, and will receive as much benefit from them, as any 
other human being, and, under the guidance of the en- 
lightened statesmen who are coming to the front, will 
surely accept them as the greatest blessing ever bestowed 
upon him or his country. After all, it is true in China, 
as well as elsewhere, that " those who think must gov- 
ern those who toil "; and, while the multitude can neither 
think deeply nor see far into the future, there are a few 
men of sufl&cient wisdom to comprehend what is good, 
and of sufficient height to see over the wall which has so 
far shut out progress, and kept their country in igno- 
rance, stagnation, and poverty. 

It has been suggested, by more than one thoughtful 
student of Chinese civilization, that it presents a case of 
decay from extreme old age ; but, while it is indubitably 
old, though perhaps not so old as it is commonly regarded, 
I can not perceive that it presents any of the indications of 
senility. The Chinese race is certainly strong and vigor- 
ous, and shows no sign whatever of decay. It is prolific, 
frugal, and industrious, and these are the physical virtues 
which betoken youth rather than declining manhood. It 
seems to me that, inasmuch as China has never had the 
higher arts of civilization, either in architecture, engi- 
neering, navigation, mining, metallurgy, or manufactur- 
ing, or even in warfare, it rather indicates a case of sus- 
pended national development, if not of prolonged youth. 
The peculiar civilization of the Chinese people is merely 



84 CHINA. 

an accident, due to isolation and other causes to which I 
have alhided, and may be confidently expected to give 
place to another and a better ciyilization whenever the 
latter can secure opportunity to demonstrate its supe- 
riority. The Chinaman's natural intelligence, although 
dwarfed and misdirected by a peculiar if not pernicious 
system of social and political government, is quite as 
great as that of other races. He is full of the conceit and 
prejudice engendered by ignorance, but is no fool, and 
has never been charged with being one. He is shrewd 
and bright at whatever he turns his mind, and whenever 
relieved from the incubus of old custom, and allowed to 
show his natural tendency and aptitudes, neither asks nor 
needs favor at the hands of his competitor, no matter 
who the latter may be. Having health and strength in 
addition, he may be expected, under proper leadership 
and education, to play his full part in the future history 
of the world. I have no fear that he will conquer it, for 
he is far behind it in skill, trained intelligence, and even 
in mere brute force. He may, at no distant day, as time 
goes, reach the point tjiat the other nations have already 
attained in the march of progress, but they will mean- 
while pass on, and perhaps all the faster, because he is no 
longer content to stand still, but has resolved to be up 
and doing. 



CHAPTEE VIII. 

Voyage from Shanghai to Tientsin — China Merchants' Steam Navigation 
Company — American house of Russell and Company put the first 
steamboats on the Yang-tse — Sold them to the China Merchants' 
Company — Coast of Shan-tung — Chee-foo — Naval station at Port 
Arthur badly located — The northern fleet — Board of Admiralty — 
Command of the northern fleet — Need of educated officers — The 
Taku forts and dock-yard — "Heaven-sent barriers" — Chinese troops 
drilled by foreign officers in English — Chinese army badly organized, 
armed and administered — The Pei-ho — Villages on its banks — Grave- 
mounds, and burial of the dead — Fung-shuy or geomancy — Difficulty 
of laying out railroads without removal of graves — How that can 
be managed. 

As before stated, it is not my purpose to give a de- 
tailed account of the manners and customs of the Chinese, 
nor of their language, literature, philosophy, or religion, 
for these have been exhaustiyely considered by the writers 
to whom reference is made in the preface. What I wish 
to bring into yiew here are rather the broader and more 
prominent aspects of their country and ciyilization, and 
I do not care to deal with eyen them further than may be 
necessary to giye the reader a clear conception of their 
past and present condition, together with an insight into 
the character of their leading men and of their goyern- 
ment ; and this I shall endeavor to do in connection with 
my own travels and observations, rather than by going 
over ground which has been fully covered by others. 

My first trip from Shanghai to Tientsin was made in 
the latter part of October (1885) on the China Merchants' 



86 csmA. 

steamship "Hae-an," a stout English-built yessel of about 
1,200 tons burden, commanded by an English captain, 
with an English first-officer, an American second, and 
Scotch chief -engineer and assistants. The trip required 
only three days, including a stop at Ohee-foo, the chief 
seaport of the Shan-tung promontory. 

The China Merchants' Steam Navigation Company is 
composed exclusiyely of Chinamen, and was organized 
under an imperial edict. As it is the only Chinese joint- 
stock company of which I haye any knowledge, except the 
Chinese Engineering and Mining Company, which owns 
and operates the Kaiping coal-mines and railroad, and to 
which I shall refer more fully hereafter, its history is a 
matter of importance. 

The first steamboats used in China were built in the 
United States for the old American house of Eussell and 
Company, who ran them successfully many years on the 
Yang-tse Kiyer, and along the Chinese coast between 
Canton, Shanghai, and Tientsin. In or about the year 
1862 they organized the Shanghai Navigation Company, 
and transferred their steamers to it. In 1872 the Chinese 
Govern men t authorized the formation of the China Mer- 
chants' Steam Navigation Company, which in 1877 took 
over all the steamships of the Shanghai Steam Navigation 
Company, and enlarged their fleet by the purchase of a 
number of new steamers. Upon the outbreak of the 
Franco-Chinese War, the Ch^na Merchants' Company, 
fearing the capture of their ships by the French, after 
much negotiation with various foreign houses, sold them 
to Messrs. Eussell and Company, who raised the American 
flag over them, on the 1st of August, 1884, and continued 
them in the trade for which they had been built. Shortly 
after the declaration of peace between the belligerents, 
Eussell and Company, at the earnest solicitation of the 
Chinese authorities, but without any previous pledge or 



STEAM NAVIGATION COMPANY. 87 

obligation to do so, resold the ships to the China Mer- 
chants' Company, and that company rehoisted its flag over 
them on August 1, 1885, and novv' operates them on the 
Yang-tse, and in the various coastwise routes starting from 
Shanghai. The ships, of which there are twenty, are all 
iron, and in excellent condition, well found and managed, 
but, owing to the competition of various other ships, 
operated on the same routes by foreign companies, it is 
doubtful if they are making sufficient money to keep up 
repairs and pay dividends. It is known that a pool, or an 
arrangement equivalent to a pool, exists between the vari- 
ous companies, and that the China Merchants' Company 
is practically controlled, if not supported, by the Govern- 
ment, and yet it is not in a flourishing condition. The 
business of the company is managed exclusively by Chinese 
mandarins, designated by the viceroy, Li Hung-Chang, 
who, in addition to other high offices, holds that of Min- 
ister Superintendent of Trade for the Northern Sea-board. 
The ships are, however, officered exclusively by foreign- 
ers, most of whom are English and Americans, and it 
would be difficult to find, under any flag, a more capable 
set of men. They are mostly in the prime of life, strong, 
vigilant, and trustworthy, and in every way show that 
they belong to the dominating race of the world. The 
quartermasters are generally old and weather-beaten Ma- 
nila men, but the stewards, firemen, and sailors are ex- 
clusively Chinese. 

On this trip we ran out of the yellow water of the 
Yang-tse, within a hundred and seventy-five miles of its 
mouth, and continued our voyage in sparkling blue waves 
and clear, crisp air. We sighted the southeast promon- 
tory the second day, and steamed along between barren, 
rocky islands and the broken and picturesque coast-line 
of the Shan-tung province, with a range of rugged, sierra- 
like hills in the distance, till we passed into the Gulf of 



88 cnmA. 

Pechili. The hills are entirely devoid of yegetation, and 
show scarcely any sign of being cultivated. They have a 
warm and reddish hue, and look for all the world like 
the hills of Utah and the Humboldt Valley. After pass- 
ing through the Straits of Miau-tau, entering the G-ulf of 
Pechili, and taking our course for the Taku bar, I ex- 
pected to see the clear and sparkling waves, which we had 
had since leaving the Yellow Sea, again discolored by the 
loess-stained waters of the Hwang-ho, which enters the 
gulf at its southwest corner, but, much, to my surprise, 
no trace of it was perceptible, and I was told by the cap- 
tain that, so far as he knew or could learn, the volume of 
water discharged, and the effect produced by it, are in- 
considerable, except during floods. Even then they are 
in no degree comparable to those of the mighty Yang-tse. 
In view of the fact that the rivers are of nearly the same 
length, rise in the same region, flow in the same general 
direction, and are mentioned by geographers, generally on 
the same page if not in the same paragraph, as among the 
great rivers of the world, my curiosity was still further 
stimulated, and I determined to find out, at some future 
day, something more of the mysterious Hwang-ho than I 
had so far been able to gather from books and ship- 
masters. 

We stopped for a few hours at Chee-foo, about midway 
between the southeast promontory and the straits, to dis- 
charge passengers and freight. It is a gray, dirty, unin- 
viting Chinese city, straggling around the shore of a 
pretty bay, and overlooked by a few outlying hamlets and 
missionary residences between it and the hill-tops in the 
distance. In the middle foreground, projecting out into 
the bay, which is nearly landlocked, is a high, rocky 
hill, occupied by the foreign consulates, and perhaps a 
dozen gray-brick and stone houses belonging to merchants 
or missionaries. There is also a pagoda-like signal-station 



CEEE-FU AND PORT ARTHUR. 89 

on the hill. To the left of it are a club-house and sev- 
eral hotels, for the accommodation of summer visitors. 
The beach is a safe one, the sailing good, and the air 
comparatively bracing, hence the place is resorted to by 
foreign ladies and children from Hong-Kong, Shanghai, 
and Peking during the hot summer months, on which 
account it is frequently called the Newport of China. 
Back of the hill and foreign settlement is the junk- 
anchorage, custom-house, and Chinese town. The latter, 
crowded by junkmen and coolies, all dirty and hard- 
looking, and many of them clad in rags, but all good-na- 
tured and cheerful, is an interesting but not at all a savory 
or inviting place. It is important, however, as a distrib- 
uting point for foreign goods, and the outer harbor is the 
resort of foreign men-of-war on the Chinese station. 

Chee-fu was at one time considered by the Chinese 
authorities and their foreign advisers as the possible site 
of the great naval station for North China, but that hon- 
or seems to have gone by it to the far less eligible point 
of Port Arthur, on the north side of the Strait of Pechili, 
where the Grovernment has located and is now busily en- 
gaged in constructing an extensive navy-yard, docks, and 
fortifications, laid out by German engineers, but afterward 
under the supervision of French engineers and contractors. 

From the fact that these important and costly works 
lie almost at the extreme northeastern end of the empire, 
on an exposed and easily detached sea-coast, across a gulf 
at all times open to a hostile fleet, and can not be con- 
nected at all with the capital of the country, except by a 
line of railway running close along the coast for several 
hundred miles, it is obvious that they will have to be 
abandoned at no distant day and relocated at some spot 
which can be much more easily reached and defended. 
Several million dollars have already been expended at Port 
Arthur, and several more will be needed before the place 



90 CEINA. 

can be made useful eyen in times of peace, or defended 
against any first-class maritime power for a single day in 
times of war. It is difficult to imagine why such an ex- 
posed position could have been preferred to Chee-fu, or 
even to Wei-hai-wei, about thirty miles to the eastward, 
and near the end of the Shan-tung promontory. Either 
of these positions can be much more easily connected with 
the interior by rail, and with the excellent coal-beds of the 
province ; and either, if strongly fortified, would afford 
a much more advantageous base of operations against a 
foreign fleet menacing either North China or Corea. 

It is said that a much better place than either of those 
named above is offered by the harbor of Kyan-Chan (lat. 
36° north, long. 120° 15' east), on the southern shore of 
Shan-tung, in a great re-entering angle of the sea-coast, 
and it is obvious, if the depth of water and the configura- 
tion of the land are favorable, that the situation in respect 
to its connection with the coal-fields and the interior of 
the country by rail is altogether superior to any other 
port north of the Yang-tse Eiver for such purposes. 

Since the Chinese have been buying the iron-clads 
from England and Germany, nine of which constitute the 
formidable '^ Northern fleet " now assembled at the mouth 
of the Pei-ho, the question of a naval station for it has 
been one of great moment to the Viceroy, Li Hung- 
Chang, and the Seventh Prince (so-called, because he is 
the seventh son of the late Emperor Tau Quang). This 
prince is also the father and tutor of the young Emperor, 
who has recently reached his majority and assumed per- 
sonal charge of the government. 

On the 13th of October, 1885, an imperial decree was 
issued, setting forth that — under the advice of the Super- 
intendents of Trade for the Northern and Southern Sea- 
board, the Princes of the Grand Council, the Prince and 
Ministers of the Tsung-li-Yamen, or Board of Foreign 



THE NORTHERN FLEET. 91 

Affairs, aided by Li Hung-Chang, all of whom had re- 
ported upon the subject— a Board of Admiralty would be 
established, and that Prince Chun, the Seventh Prince, 
should assume the chief control of naval matters, " the 
fleets along the coast being placed under his control and 
at his disposition." The same decree appointed Prince 
Oh'ing and Li Hung-Ohang as coadjutors in the manage- 
ment of naval affairs, with Shan-Oh'ing a Lieutenant- 
General of the Eed Han-Chun Banner, and Tseng Chi- 
tse* Junior Vice-President of the Board of War, as assist- 
ants. It then concludes as follows : " The formation of 
a northern navy being at present in the initiatory stage, 
we commit the special control thereof to Li Hung-Chang ; 
but all new arrangements that have to be made, and mat- 
ters that have to be considered, must receive the careful 
attention of the above-mentioned princes and high min- 
isters, who will devise systematic plans, and draw up regu- 
lations for submission to the Throne, and to be carried 
out in successive stages." 

Inasmuch as all the princes and ministers named in 
the decree are residents of Peking, and entirely ignorant 
of naval administration, the meaning of all this is, that 
Li Hung-Chang, who resides at Tientsin, and is already 
overburdened with work, is also to become the actual 
head of the navy. The formal decree in this case, as in 
many others, followed rather than preceded the march of 
events, for the Great Viceroy had been practically in con- 
trol of the naval defense of the Northern sea-board for the 
last eight or ten years. He was at first aided by Captain 
Lang, an officer of the Eoyal English Navy, but at 
the outbreak of the Franco-Chinese War that officer re- 
signed or was recalled by his Government, and Captain 
Siebelin, an under-officer in the United States Navy dur- 
ing the late rebellion, but now a captain in the German 
Navy, was engaged under a three years' contract to act 

* Commonly known by foreigners as the Marquis Tseng. 



92 CHINA. 

as Admiral and Instructor- General of the fleet. Since 
the conclusion of peace, however, his services have been 
dispensed with, and Captain Lang has been reinstated 
and in turn dispensed with. He is an accomplished and 
experienced officer, and if left free to act, with a proper 
staff of assistants and instructors, would doubtless have 
proven himself to be a most valuable factor in the organ- 
ization, instruction, and administration of the JSTorthern 
fleet. In view, however, of the aggressive policy of Eng- 
land in the East, and the constant danger of the disrup- 
tion of peaceful relations between her and China, it is diffi- 
cult to see upon what grounds of enlightened self-interest 
the employment of an English naval officer to build up 
and instruct a Chinese navy can be justified. To the cas- 
ual observer, it seems to be self-evident that the Imperial 
Government would have done far better to select a Dane, 
a Hollander, or, better still, an American, for such an im- 
portant position. By doing so, it could certainly have 
obtained as good an officer, and it would have beeii much 
less likely to lose his services by the severance of friendly 
relations with the country of which he was a citizen. 

In this connection, I feel justified in saying that, 
while the Chinese Government has bought ships of the 
yery latest design, armed with excellent guns of heayy 
caliber, and furnished with full complements of men, 
they are yet far from having an efficient nayy. They 
have but few competent foreign instructors, and scarcely 
any competent natiye officers. Contrary to the com- 
monly accepted opinion, the Chinese are by no means 
bold or adventurous seamen, and although the common 
sailors, like the common soldiers, are a robust and hardy 
race, they are far from being competent to handle an 
iron-clad without the supervision of well-trained officers. 
The recent destruction of the Chinese fleet by the French 
iron-clads under Admiral Courbet, at Foo-chow, is but a 



THE FORTHEBN- FLEET, 93 

sample of what may be expected, in case of war with any 
first-class nayal power, unless the Chinese Goyernment 
shall meanwhile employ competent instructors, in suffi- 
cient numbers and with sufficient authority, to educate 
officers as fast as they are required to man their war- 
ships. Neither one English captain nor a dozen can 
create a navy without this help, and for this no ample 
provision has yet been made, although a naval school has 
been organized in a small way at Tientsin. 

I refer to this subject now, somewhat in detail, be- 
cause the Chinese Government, in the decree above men- 
tioned, and in the steps taken to carry it into effect, have 
gone farther in imitation of foreigners than in any other 
branch of their public business, unless I except that of 
the maritime customs, which was organized and brought 
to its present high state of efficiency by Sir Robert Hart 
and a corps of able assistants, all of whom are foreigners, 
and to which I shall refer more fully in another chapter. 

We arrived at our anchorage off Taku the morning 
after leaving Chee-foo, but, as our ship was drawing four- 
teen feet aft, and there was only eleven feet of water on 
the bar at high-tide, we had to discharge into lighters 
most of our cargo, which was composed of rice, '^ brick- 
tea," and copper ^^cash," before we could enter the Pei- 
ho. While this was going on, the captain and I, with his 
gig and a crew of four Chinese sailors, rowed through 
and around the ^^ l^orthern fleet " of iron-clads which 
were lying within four miles of us, looking bright, new, 
and formidable. 

Late in the afternoon we weighed anchor and entered 
the mouth of the river with the flood -tide, between the 
massive and heavily armed earthworks, famous in history 
as the Taku forts. The river which separates them is 
not over four hundred yards wide, and turns and twists 
its way through the low, marshy land, on either side, to 



94 CHINA. 

Tientsin, fifty miles above. The fortifications are well 
supplied with Armstrong and Krupp breech-loading rifles, 
strongly garrisoned by troops partly drilled in foreign 
tactics by competent German officers. They are spread 
out along the river for a half or three quarters of a mile, 
and, to render them still more difficult of assault, they 
are covered, front and rear, by wide wet ditches. They 
were taken by the allied French and English forces, 
August 21st, 1860, who landed at the mouth of the Peh- 
tang-ho, ten miles farther up the coast, and, after-seyeral 
slight skirmishes with a covering force, entered the works 
from the rear, much to the disgust of the Chinese com- 
mander, while the allied fleet was thundering away at 
long range in front. It was • from a front attack upon 
these same works that the English were repulsed with 
such heavy loss the year before. And it was during this 
attack that Commodore Tatnall, of our navy, from the 
deck of a small steamer hired for the occasion, but taking 
no part in the action, seeing some English sailors strug- 
gling in the water, after their ship had been sunk by the 
Chinese guns, exclaimed, '' Blood is thicker than water ! " 
lowered his cutter, an'd, rowing into the thickest of the 
firing, rescued the drowning men from a watery grave. 

Just beyond the fortifications we passed an excellent 
dock-yard, and anchored in front of the city of Taku, 
built entirely of mud-houses and containing a population 
of perhaps fifty thousand souls. There is plenty of water 
in the anchorage in front of the city, and for eight or ten 
miles farther up, and it is quite evident, from the soft- 
ness of the mud on the bar and the volume of water dis- 
charged across it, that the entrance could be readily and 
inexpensively deepened so as to admit ships drawing 
twenty feet at all times, and it is also probable that that 
depth could be maintained without great difficulty. There 
is, however, a prosperous ^^tug and lighter " company, 



''EEAVEN'-SEN'T BAREIEBS:' 95 

composed of foreigners, whose business would be rained 
by such an improvement, and the Chinese themselves do 
not believe much in taking liberties with nature. They 
are rather disjjosed to regard the bars at the mouths of 
their rivers, and especially those at Taku and Wu-sung, 
as '' Heaven-sent barriers," specially designed to keep out 
foreign men-of-war. 

Owing to the absence of beacons and the crookedness 
of the river, we were compelled to lie at anchor till the 
moon rose. All around us we heard the hum and roar of 
noisy villagers, and the shouting of soldiers, and in the 
early evening the air seemed full of foreign bugle-calls, in 
which the Chinese buglers have certainly been well in- 
structed. Another curious fact that may be mentioned 
here is that all military commands to the foreign-drilled 
Chinese troops are given in English, no matter what the 
nationality of the drill-master may be. Every drill-master 
is accompanied by an interpreter, who explains the mean- 
ing of each command till the troops thoroughly under- 
stand its significance and foreign sound, and can execute 
it exactly as required. This is of course a great limitation 
upon instruction, and, as the tactics are by no means uni- 
form, and the discipline far from rigid, it may well be^ 
taken for granted that, notwithstanding a number of the 
troops serving in the maritime provinces are armed with 
excellent breech-loading fire-arms, they could hardly be 
expected to stand up before well - disciplined foreign 
troops, no matter how great the disparity of numbers. 

In my travels through the interior I saw no troops, ex- 
cept a few about Peking, with improved fire-arms. They 
all had matchlocks of the most primitive pattern, and of 
every size and length. It is true that I paid no special 
attention to military matters, but, having had ample ex- 
perience in them, and kept my eyes open wherever I 
went, 1 am perhaps justified in saying that I saw nothing 



98 CHmA. 

formidable in a military sense anywhere in the empire, 
and have no hesitation in adding that it is entirely un- 
prepared, in my judgment, either in military administra- 
tion, organization, or equipment, to resist inyasion from 
any first-class military power, with even an ordinary force. 
It has neither transport, commissariat, nor an adequate 
quantity of. military munitions, and, barring its inexhaust- 
ible population from which to draw fresh soldiers, it is 
simply a huge boneless giant, which must fall a ready 
prey to the first great power that attacks it in earnest. 
Some of its great leaders and statesmen, like the Viceroy 
Li and the late Tso Tsung-Tang, years ago began to per- 
ceive this truth, and have done what they could to arouse 
the Throne to a realizing sense of its danger. Something 
has been done, in a small and unsystematic way, toward 
arming and drilling the troops in foreign style, and more 
in buying and equipping the Northern fleet, but, withal, 
scarcely a beginning has yet been made toward putting 
the country in a position to resist attack, and absolutely 
nothing toward conducting a successful foreign war. 

The distance from Taku to Tientsin is about thirty- 
five miles by land, but it is full fifty by the river, which, 
as before stated, is about as crooked as it can be. Al- 
though it has been the bed of the Hwang-ho at least 
twice within the historic period, and remained so from 
fifty to one hundred and fifty years, it narrows down 
within ten miles of its mouth from four hundred yards, 
which is about the average width of the Hwang-ho, to 
scarcely more than as many feet. "Were it not for its 
soft and stoneless sides and bottom, its navigation by 
steamships would be impossible. As it is, it is extremely 
difficult. The country on either side, as far as the eye 
can reach, is a perfectly level plain, unbroken by even a 
high embankment. It is covered next to the river with 
a continuous succession of vegetable patches and millet- 



GBAYE-MOUNDS. 97 

fields. At eyery turn of the riyer a yillage of one-story 
sun-dried brick houses, all thatched with millet-stalks and 
straw, presents itself to the yiew. Here and there is one 
of greater importance surrounded by walls and guarded 
by fortifications, oyerlookiug the riyer and the road ; but 
the most curious sight to the trayeler is the great number 
of hemispherical graye-mounds looking yery much in size 
and color like hay-cocks, which surround eyery town and 
yillage immediately outside its limits, and the larger the 
town the more thickly are the fields next to it coyered by 
the mounds. Some of these are as high as ten feet, and 
look exactly like hay-stacks from a distance, and it is the 
same eyerywhere else in the Great Plain. And yet I 
think there is some misconception of this subject exist- 
ing in the minds of people who haye obtained their 
knowledge of China entirely from books. The general 
impression seems to be that the whole face of the country, 
wherever you go, is dotted oyer by grayes, and that these 
grayes are regarded with great reyerence and maintained 
with pious care from generation to generation, and such, 
perhaps, is the theory of the Chinese, but, like many theo- 
ries eyen among more highly ciyilized people, it is not 
rigidly adhered to. In the first place, it should be borne 
in mind that the Chinese do not liye in farm-houses on 
the land, eyen when they own it, but all classes are gath- 
ered together in yillages, towns, and cities, and naturally 
the larger these are, the more numerous and thickly 
placed are the grayes about them. Where the country is 
thinly settled, the grayes are infrequent, and they are 
neyer scattered about in the open country. In the sec- 
ond place, there are no common graye-yards devoted ex- 
clusiyely to burials ; rich families haye their own ground, 
in which they set off a lot and surround it by eyer- 
greens for the family grayes ; but the common people bury 
in the fields, under a license from the owner, for a limited 
6 



98 CHINA. 

number of years, usually not over three. Such as can 
not pay for a license, encoffin their dead and lay 
them alongside the highway, thinly covered with earth, 
and sometimes only with matting. The result is, that 
every considerable town seems to be surrounded by graves 
thickly, and sometimes oddly enough, strewn about the 
fields for a mile or even two miles out ; but great as may 
be the confusion, each grave is laid out with due regard 
to ^''fung-shuy," which may be regarded as a system of 
geomancy or superstition by which the common people 
are largely governed in the important transactions of life. 
In the third place, while the custom of ancestral worship 
requires that the father's grave should be carefully pre- 
served, in order that his male descendants may worship 
before it, the graves of the women, unmarried people, 
and children, are not so well made nor so scrupulously 
looked after, and, as a matter of fact, not only the graves 
of this class, but of the heads of families, gradually fall 
into decay and become obliterated. Even in the case of 
the best-established families, it must, with the lapse of 
time, become difficult to say whose duty it is to keep in 
repair the ancestral grave, and this fact, together with 
the additional one that while it is provided by law that 
families shall neither change their occupation nor place 
of abode, they do so quite frequently, without let or hin- 
drance, and thus put it out of their power to keep the old 
graves in order. Besides all of this, the fields around 
and between the graves, however small the space, are cul- 
tivated yearly ; and especially throughout the Great Plain 
where plowing is resorted to, or where the ground is subject 
to overflow, the grave-mounds are gradually encroached 
upon, lowered in height, and ultimately disappear, or are 
covered up and effaced entirely. In my travels I tried to 
obtain trustworthy information as to the average duration 
of common graves, but could not make myself understood 



GEAYE-M0UND8. 99 

BufBciently well, even through my interpreter, to get at 
anything exact enough to justify me in sjDeaking with 
confidence about it. My impression is, however, that it 
can not possibly exceed ten years, and may not exceed 
five. 

It has been commonly supposed that the difficulty of 
laying out railroads without interfering with the graves 
and violating the sacred customs of the people would 
prove an insuperable obstacle to the introduction of rail- 
roads into China, and I am free to confess that if the 
graves can not be moved, the difficulty will at least com- 
pel the location of the railroads at considerable distances 
from the present towns and cities. Itwould be impossible 
to enter the most of those in the Great Plain without run- 
ning over or encroaching upon many graves. In the hill- 
country it is different. The graves are located in such 
regions on the hill-tops and sides, and the lowlands and 
valleys^ where railroad lines would naturally be located, 
are reserved for farms and roads. But, so far as I can 
learn, there is no reason for supposing that the graves 
can not be moved, when necessary, if the proper measures 
are taken to conciliate the people and to compensate 
them for the damage inflicted upon them. Of course 
the primary condition to be observed in China, as in other 
countries, is that no person's j)rivate property shall be 
taken for public or corporate use except by due process 
of law and with prompt payment for the amount taken. 
Under this rule, all lands actually set off for railroad use 
would have to be paid for after valuation by disinterested 
parties, but in the case under consideration there is more 
to be provided for than the mere value of the land. The 
graves should not only be moved, but ground for new 
ones should be furnished, and all expenses connected with 
the reinterment should be paid for by the railroad com- 
pany on a just and liberal scale. If this is done, and all 



100 CHINA. 

steps of the business are taken with due deliberation and 
decorum, as well as a due regard for the customs and pre- 
judices of the people, there is little doubt that most of the 
difficulty on this account will rapidly disappear, especially 
if the Imperial sanction be given to the proceedings and 
some appropriate recognition be extended to the people 
whose places of sepulture it has been necessary to inter- 
fere with for the public good. A simple tablet of wood 
erected oyer the remains, or in some neighboring temple, 
by Imperial decree, would go far toward allaying the 
prejudices of the most superstitious and obdurate China- 
man. After all, he is not unlike other people, and if he 
is well and kindly treated and his natural rights are re- 
spected, he is easily managed. Besides, there is reason 
for belieying that while reyerence for the dead is a part 
of the Chinaman's daily life, it is not a cult of such great 
vitality nor of such fixed and unbending rules as to pro- 
hibit the application of common sense to such cases as 
may arise affecting it. Later during my travels I made 
inquiry as to the average cost of coffin, ground, and 
funeral for the average Chinaman, and learned that it 
varies in the Great Plain from five to eight dollars. 



CHAPTEE IX. 

Races at Tieiitsin — Chinese band playing American airs — No social in- 
tercourse between Chinese and foreigners — Removal of grave-mounds 
to make way for the race-course — Political and commercial impor- 
tance of Tientsin — The foreign settlement — Foreign gunboats — The 
Viceroy Li Hung-Chang — His American secretary — First call upon 
the Viceroy — His official residence or Yamen — Subjects discussed — 
Railroads and canals — Intelligence and interest displayed by the 
Viceroy — Ceremony of leave-taking — " Setting the watch." 

Almost immediately after my arrival at Tientsin I 
was taken to the race-course, where I fonnd nearly eyery 
gentleman and lady, and most of the children of the 
foreign settlement, and a thousand or more Chinamen 
assembled, all eager and excited over the coming con- 
tests. The entries were all Mongolian ponies, owned and 
ridden by foreign gentlemen residing in the settlement, 
each of whom was dressed in a fancy jockey suit of gayly- 
colored silk. The ponies were well trained, hardy little 
fellows, from twelve to fourteen hands high, and very 
spunky. They belong to the breed from which the Tartar 
and Chinese cavalry draw their mounts, and have not yet 
been improved by crossing with European horses. 

The Viceroy's band, composed of about thirty musi- 
cians, clad in gay red uniforms of Chinese cut and con- 
ducted by a foreign leader, was in attendance, and, much 
to my surprise and gratification, it played an assortment 
of familiar American airs in a most spirited manner, such 



102 CHINA. 

as "Old Blind Joe" and "Marching tliroiigh Georgia." 
It was a gay and animated scene, in which the manners 
and cnstoms of the old and the new civilization were 
sharply contrasted. There were many Chinese looking 
on, but I was at once struck by the fact that there were 
none taking any part whatever in the races. And it is 
worthy of note that neither here nor elsewhere is there 
any social out-door intermingling of natives and foreign- 
ers. The English custom of non-intercourse with all 
inferior races prevails here as everywhere else in India 
and China. Occasionally a mandarin invites a distin- 
guished foreigner to dine with him, and the compliment 
is duly returned, but there all social intercourse ends. 
Most of the foreigners residing in the treaty ports are 
merchants or missionaries, and neither of these classes 
has any social standing with the official class in China. 
They are simply ignored, unless they have private or 
public business which must be attended to, and even 
then they are generally required to present it through 
the consul of the nationality to which they belong. So 
far is non-intercourse the rule that no Chinaman, how- 
ever high his rank, is ever invited to enter a foreign club 
or permitted to take part in foreign games and sports, 
and in some cases, as in the settlement at Shanghai, they 
are even prohibited from entering the grounds and pub- 
lic gardens set apart for foreign use. Whether they are 
ready to do so or not if invited and permitted, is by no 
means certain, but the practice is as I have stated, and 
this is in marked contrast to the rule in Japan, where 
native and foreign gentlemen belong to the same clubs, 
and treat with each other on all business and social mat- 
ters on terms of perfect equality. 

I was particularly struck, while on the race-course at 
Tientsin, with the fact that the track, which is elliptical 
and about a mile round, occupies a field thickly studded 



BEMOVAL OF GBAVE-MOUNDS, 103 

with graye-mouiids, many of whicli must have been re- 
moved in order to make room for it. At a rough esti- 
mate I should say that it incloses five thousand graves, 
and that there are twice as many in sight of it on the 
outside. Another curious fact is that many of these 
grave-mounds were occupied by Chinamen irreverently 
standing on top of them and eagerly straining their 
necks and eyes to see the sport going on around them. 

I made inquiry as to how the ground covered by the 
race-course had been disencumbered of its graves, and 
was told with a smile that ^^old China hands" know 
how to manage such matters. And I have no doubt 
they did it by using common sense and money, and not 
very much of the latter. 

Tientsin, or the Heavenly Ferry, is a point of great 
interest, not only on account of its being the port of 
Peking, eighty miles farther inland, but, as before stated, 
because it is the principal residence of the Viceroy Li, 
with and through whom nearly all foreign business must 
be conducted. It is situated mostly on the south bank 
of the Pei-ho, just below the confluence of its three prin- 
cipal branches, and is said to contain nearly a million 
inhabitants. Its site is as low, flat, and uninviting as 
any other in the Great Plain. It is of course subject to 
overflow, and is in fact almost surrounded by shallow 
ponds, in which the flood- or rain-water stands all the 
year round. Close to the river-bank below, on either 
side the ground is given up entirely to gardens, in which 
cabbage, onions, garlic, sweet-potatoes, and millet are the 
principal crop. Like Shanghai, it has a thrifty foreign set- 
tlement extending along the river-bank for nearly a mile, 
and containing a number of fine residences and ware- 
houses. It also contains several churches, a club, two 
hospitals, a bank, and with its own government under 
the consuls of the treaty powers, an excellent police. 



104 CEmA. 

well-payed streets, and a wharf or bund reveted with, 
cut stone, presents almost as strong a contrast with every- 
thing in the Chinese city above as does the settlement at 
Shanghai with the Chinese city there. Last year two 
hundred and forty steamships entered and cleared at the 
port of Tientsin, and it is estimated that they carried 
into it at least two hundred thousand tons of freight. 
The outbound cargoes were much lighter, as the export 
from this part of the country consists mostly of straw 
braid, camels' wool, hogs' bristles, and a few other arti- 
cles of no great moment. The heart of the Chinese city 
is surrounded by a high crenelated brick wall of the 
usual Chinese type, built several hundred years ago, but 
the suburbs lying about the junction of the Grand Canal 
or south branch, with the main river, and outside of 
the wall, are of greater extent than the old city itself. 
The foreign settlement, suburbs, and the old city are all 
inclosed, however, by a high earthern embankment of 
irregular trace, derisively known as Sankolinsin's Folly, 
built by the Tartar prince of that name, who commanded 
the imperial forces confronting the allied French and 
English in 1860. This great embankment, having a 
command of about fifteen feet, although laid out with- 
out any regard to flanking arrangements, would have 
been a very formidable bar to the advance of the allied 
forces had it been properly manned and defended, but, 
inasmuch as the Imperial commander fled from it with- 
out making a single effort to hold it, the allies took pos- 
session of it, and found it useful as a fortified base for 
further operations against Peking. 

Since the outbreak of the mob which destroyed the 
French mission and orphan asylum, and massacred the 
Sisters of Charity at Tientsin, in 1873, the port has been 
occupied every winter by foreign gunboats — generally one 
American, one French, and one English — and is as orderly 



TIENTSm, OB TEE EEAYENLY FEEBY. 105 

and quiet a place as there is in China. It is the seat of 
the naval administration provided for in the late imperial 
decree, and of incipient naval and military academies. It 
is also the headquarters of the imperial telegraph system 
and the telegraph school, and has two arsenals, managed 
by foreigners and provided with foreign machinery. 
"While far inferior to Shanghai as a commercial city, it 
is, perhaps, superior to that place, and even to Peking, as 
a base of operations against the conservatism and ignorance 
which control the entire country. Although Pau-ting-fu, 
about a hundred miles west-southwest, is the official capi- 
tal of the province of Ohihli, and Peking, eighty miles 
northwest, in the same province, is the capital of the 
empire, it is quite certain that Tientsin is the center of 
all progressive movements which have shown themselves 
of late years in North China, and this arises solely from 
the fact that the Viceroy Li makes it his home and prin- 
cipal place of business. He goes to Pau-ting-fu whenever 
the provincial business requires it, and to Peking when- 
ever called there by Imperial mandate, but nine tenths of 
his time is passed at Tientsin. In addition to being the 
Governor-Greneral, or Viceroy of the Province, and admin- 
istering the government of thirty-five million people, he is 
First Grand Secretary of the EmjDire, and conducts the 
foreign affairs of the whole nation. He is also practically 
the head of the Northern fleet, or Secretary of the Navy, 
and is absolutely Minister Superintendent of Trade for the 
Northern Seaboard. He is, besides, the leading military 
adviser of the Throne, and it was mainly through his ef- 
forts and those of the foreign officers used by him in or- 
ganizing and commanding the '' Ever- Victorious Army " 
that the Taiping rebellion was suppressed after it had 
overrun two thirds of the empire, and cost the lives of 
ten million Chinamen. Although he can not speak or 
read a word of English, he has been for many years in 



106 CHINA, 

almost daily contact with foreigners, and especially witn. 
Americans and Englishmen, and is familiar with their 
ideas on all subjects of importance. He received Gen- 
eral Grant, during his late tour around the world, with 
every honor and attention, and owing, perhaps, to a cer- 
tain similarity of tastes and mental qualities, as well as 
to the fact that each had been the final and successful 
leader of his countrymen in the suppression of a great re- 
bellion, these two distinguished men came to be intimate 
personal friends. 

One of the Viceroy's foreign secretaries is an Ameri- 
can, of rare modesty and attainments, who not only reads 
and writes literary Chinese as well as it is possible for 
any one except a native scholar to ever read or write it, 
but at the same time keeps himself abreast of the world's 
current thought on all questions. This gentleman, after 
serving through the rebellion as a private soldier in a 
ISTew York cavalry regiment, went to China when still a 
boy, with a letter of introduction from President Lin- 
coln to Mr. Burlingame, then our minister at Peking, 
and has resided in the country ever since, devoting him- 
self conscientiously to its literature and art, and to the 
furtherance of whatever promises to improve its material 
condition. He established intimate social and ofi&cial rela- 
tions with the Viceroy and his family, and has rendered 
them much effective and disinterested service, especially 
in familiarizing them with the foreign way of looking at 
all questions. He enjoys the Viceroy's personal confidence 
and friendship to a high degree, and is one of the few 
men, whether native or foreign, who has access to him at 
all times. 

I made my first call upon the Viceroy on the day after 
my arrival at Tientsin, in company with the American 
vice-consul, and, thanks to my credentials, and also to 
my services as a soldier and an engineer, with which the 



LI HUNG-GHANG, VIGEROY OF GEIELL 107 

viceroy had been made acquainted beforehand, I was 
received with every mark of respect and consideration. 
During that and my subsequent visits to Tientsin it 
was my good fortune to see the Viceroy often, to enjoy 
his hospitality, and to establish with him an exceedingly 
pleasant and cordial friendship. 

As the ceremonies and incidents of these visits were 
novel and interesting to me, I venture to describe the 
first one as a sample of all, in the hope that it will also 
prove interesting, and in some degree instructive, to 
others. 

Custom requires that all ceremonial visits from 
persons of rank should be made in a sedan-chair, 
covered with blue or green cloth, lined with silk, and 
borne upon the shoulders of four coolies, clad in official 
costume. If occasion requires it, the chair is preceded 
and followed by mounted retainers, for the purpose of 
clearing the way and bearing proper evidence to the 
rank and consideration of the visitor. In this manner I 
proceeded from the settlement, through the narrow, 
crooked, and dirty streets of the Chinese city, to the 
Yamen or official residence of the Viceroy, on the bank of 
the Grand Canal, three miles away. It is situated in a 
compound or high wall of gray, burned bricks, pierced 
by a portal with high granite posts and heavy timber 
doors, opening into an outer court-yard in front of the 
residence. As my cortege turned into the court-yard, 
which was by no means cleanly swept, we were met by 
the vice-consul, who had arrived before us and given the 
necessary notice that we were near at hand, so that every- 
thing was arranged in order according to the require- 
ments of Chinese etiquette. I sat for a few minutes m 
my chair, waiting in front of another pair of large, double 
doors, gorgeously decorated in red, yellow, and gold, with 
huge figures, one looking like a herculean king of clubs, 



108 OEINA. 

and the other like a queen of the same suite. This slight 
delay gave me time to look about, but I saw nothing par- 
ticularly striking, except a granite column or tablet to 
the left, about twelve feet high, three feet wide, and a 
foot thick, standing on the back of a granite tortoise 
about five feet long, three feet wide, and two feet thick, 
half buried, with its head stretched out upon the ground. 
The face of the tablet was deeply cut with Chinese char- 
acters from top to bottom, but their significance I never 
learned. While engaged in looking at this singular ob- 
ject, many of which I afterward saw near the graves of 
great men about Peking, the great central doors were 
thrown open with a bang, and my bearers were motioned 
to advance, which they did for about twenty paces, and 
then sat me down again. My footman then came for- 
ward, lifted out the yellow-silk curtain which closed the 
front of the chair, and indicated that I was to step out. 
The vice-consul joined me at once, and then — preceded 
by an official of the Yamen, carrying our Chinese cards, 
pieces of bright-red paper about seven inches long and 
three and a half wide, pontaining the Chinese characters 
which had been selected to represent our names — we were 
shown into the reception-room reserved for foreigners. 
The farther end of it contained a platform or dais, lighted 
by a window back of it, and furnished with a divan, two 
seats, and a sort of low table, all covered with red silk. 
On either side was a row of chairs and small tables, also 
covered with red silk ; back of them were a lot of Chinese 
screens hung with pictures, and the floor was covered 
with an English Brussels carpet. The front of the room 
was separated from an open corridor by a screen of glass 
and carved wood, and the ceiling was also of wood, all in 
its natural color. In one corner of the room was an 
American coal-stove of the base-burner pattern, made at 
Troy, New York, and in the other a portrait of the 



LI EUNG-CHANG, VICEROY OF CEIELI 109 

Viceroy done in oil, by a German artist, from a photo- 
graph. 

I had hardly taken in these details when the Viceroy 
made his appearance through the door by which we had 
entered, bowed with grace and dignity, and then cordially 
shook hands with me in European style. Bowing again, 
he turned and led the way into a little private office 
opening into the reception-room, and, seating himself at 
the head of a largo table, he showed me a chair to his 
left, the post of honor in China, and the vice-consul, who 
is also his American secretary and interpreter, a chair to 
the right. A pretty little porcelain tea-cup, containing 
freshly made tea of excellent quality, was placed in front 
of each of us ; a box of cigars, another of cigarettes, and 
a box of Austrian matches were put on the table. At 
the same time a pipe-bearer, with a water-pipe of steel 
and ebony, took his stand near the Viceroy. By this time 
I had taken a good look at him, and was pleased with his 
manly and dignified appearance and his grave but be- 
nevolent and kindly countenance. 

He is about six feet high, and strongly built, but by 
no means fat. His figure is erect, and indicates that, if 
he had been properly trained when young, he would have 
been a very strong and active man. His skin has the 
usual yellowish but somewhat swarthy cast which charac- 
terizes the pure Chinese race to which he belongs. His 
eyes are dark, piercing, and rather small, but they nev- 
ertheless show both acuteness and intelligence, and seem 
to sparkle with amiability and kindness. His hair is 
gray, shaved back from his forehead, and plaited into a 
queue of medium length and thickness, according to the 
unvarying Chinese fashion. His teeth are somewhat un- 
even and discolored by tobacco. He has a gray, drooping 
mustache, and rather thin, gray chin-whiskers, or imperial, 
which come to Chinamen generally late in life. His age is 



110 CHINA. 

now sixty-six years, counting him a year old at birth, as 
is the custom in China. He was clad in a gray astrakhan 
outer garment or surtout, with long, flowing sleeves, into 
which he could withdraw his hands when cold, loose 
silken trousers, felt shoes, and a black turban-shaped hat 
with flaring sides and flat top, surmounted by the button 
of his rank, with a peacock's feather sticking straight 
out behind. 

We had hardly taken seats before he asked me how 
old I was. This question is always asked by the Chinese 
of foreigners, and is fully justified by the rules of their 
etiquette. When I had answered it satisfactorily, he said, 
with some surprise : " You must have been quite young 
in the wars. What position did you hold when you were 
in the War Department at Washington ? " 

Perceiving that he wanted an account of my public 
services, I replied that I had been chief of the cavalry bu- 
reau, charged with the supervision of the organization and 
equipment of all the cavalry troops, had commanded a cav- 
alry division, and, still later, a cavalry army. I added 
that after the restoration, of peace I had returned to my 
legitimate duties as an ofl&cer of regular engineers, and 
taken charge of the improvement of the Mississippi, the 
Illinois, and the Eock Eivers, and finally had resigned 
from the army for the purpose of building and operating 
railroads, in which busines»3 I had been engaged, in va- 
rious parts of the United States, for the last fifteen years. 
This recital drew from him an expression of surprise at 
the extent and variety of my services, whereupon I ex- 
plained to him that, previous to reaching the rank of 
brigadier-general, I had also served two years on the staff 
of General Grant as an engineer officer, and as the inspect- 
or-general of the army under his command, and that the 
aim of our system of military education at West Point is 
to teach all sciences useful in the military profession, in- 



• LI RTJNG-CHANG, VICEROY OF OEIHLL HI 

eluding drill, tactics, engineering, and the art of war, so 
tboronghly that the graduate is competent to serve effi- 
ciently wherever he may be placed. 

This reference to General Grant drew from the Viceroy 
an expression of profound sorrow at his untimely death 
under such sad and distressing circumstances, and that 
after retiring from his high public employments he should 
have been drawn into business relations with men who 
had proved themselves so unworthy of his confidence 
and had betrayed him in such a shameful way. He ex- 
pressed the greatest sympathy for Mrs. Grant, coupled 
with anxious solicitude for her comfort, and the sufficiency 
of her fortune to provide for the wants of herself and 
family. When I told him of General Grant's struggle 
during the last year of his life, while suffering under a 
painful and incurable disease, to write his memoirs for 
the purpose of providing, by its sale, another fortune for 
his family, and called attention to the fact that it was, on 
the whole, the most heroic year of his life, and had been 
crowned by success as complete as any he had ever gained, 
the Viceroy expressed his gratification in the highest 
terms, and said it was a noble ending to a noble career. 

He then asked me if I knew General Upton, whom he 
had met during the visit of the latter to China and the 
other nations of Asia and Europe for the purpose of in- 
specting and reporting upon their armies, and who had 
proposed to establish a military academy for the Chinese 
Government. I explained that I had known him inti- 
mately from boyhood, that he had commanded a divison 
of cavalry under me during the closing days of the rebel- 
lion with marked ability, had died only a few years ago 
under distressing circumstances, and had left behind him 
a great reputation as a military man. 

After expressing sorrow at the sad ending of a career 
which promised so much usefulness to his country, the 



112 CHmA. 

Viceroy then reverted to my own services and varied 
employments, and said, '' With all you have done, you 
must be very rich." I replied, ^' No, not rich, and yet 
not altogether poor," adding that " I had rather striven 
to do things and accomplish what I had undertaken than 
to make money out of them, and yet I had made some 
money." He asked at once, ^^ How much?" It seems 
that this is quite the question to ask a foreigner, but that it 
is hardly ever asked of a Chinaman. Not feeling quite 
like putting a fixed value upon the usual assortment of 
American assets, I replied, '^ I have enough to keep the 
wolf away from the door, and yet not so much but that a 
man of my age, with wife and children to care for, might 
properly want more." And this seemed to satisfy him. 
At all events, he dropped the subject, and asked if I had 
brought my family with me to China, and how long I in- 
tended to stay. This gave me an opportunity, which I 
availed myself of at once, to explain in a general way the 
objects which I had in view in visiting China, and that, 
while I had hoped they would not keep me away from 
home more than six monj^hs, I should stay longer if neces- 
sary. I then adverted to the fact that he was not only 
the first statesman and soldier of China, but also its 
recognized leader in intelligence and progress, and asked 
him to explain the policy of the Chinese Government in 
regard to railroads and other industrial undertakings. He 
replied, without hesitation, and apparently with perfect 
frankness : '' China must build railroads, open mines, and 
put up furnaces and rolling-mills, but the great question 
is where to find the money with which to pay for them." 
I rejoined that I had no doubt the money could be got on 
reasonable terms if the Chinese Government would ask 
for it; that its credit was good, that money, and especially 
silver, were abundant in both Europe and America, and 
that the times were favorable for getting it. I added, I 



RAILROADS IN CHINA. II3 

had even heard it stated by a distinguished American 
statesman that he would be glad to see the silver, which 
was accumulating in such large quantities in our Treasury, 
used for building railroads in China. 

This remark excited his interest at once, and he asked 
eagerly if I could not induce our Government to lend a 
part of its surplus silver to China for this purpose. I of 
course told him that such a thing were hardly possible, 
but added that, being only a private citizen, with no au- 
thority whatever to discuss a matter of such serious im- 
portance, I could only express my private opinion about 
it, and that was that it could not be done directly, al- 
though it was doubtless possible that our bankers, who 
had larger deposits than ever before, might make a loan 
which would indirectly accomplish the same object. His 
Excellency then asked : ^^ What is your Government 
going to do with the large quantity of silver accumulat- 
ing in its Treasury ? I understand it amounts to hun- 
dreds of millions, and that they have to build new houses 
of iron and steel to hold it." How he got his informa- 
tion I never learned, but I was struck with its general 
accuracy, as well as with the question he asked about it. 
I replied that of course the Government would use so 
much of it as necessary to pay its current expenses and 
maturing debts, but had not decided, so far as I knew, 
upon a definite policy for disposing of its surplus. He 
smiled, and came back quickly with the remark, '^^ Well, 
it might get rid of some of it by paying its diplomatic 
and consular agents in China larger salaries than they 
now get," and in this I concurred most heartily. 

A pause now occurred in the conference, during which 
a servant brought in and opened a bottle of champagne 
and poured out a glass for each. He then struck a 
match, with which he lit a twisted paper lighter, and 
carefully placing the mouth-piece of the water-pipe be- 



114 CHUSTA. 

tween the lips of the Viceroy, who had his hands spread 
out on the table before him, and was looking intently at 
me, without seeing the pipe-stem. As soon as he felt it, 
however, between his lips, he closed them, took a long 
deep pull at it, blew out the smoke, and then took an- 
other, still deeper if possible, and exhaled it through his 
nostrils. The pipe was then withdrawn, cleared of smoke, 
recharged, and returned to his mouth in the same delib- 
erate and careful manner, and he smoked again in the 
same way. The operation was repeated several times, 
and then the conversation was resumed by the Viceroy's 
asking if I knew Colonel Denby, the newly arrived Ameri- 
can Minister, or had served with him in the rebellion. 
Upon my replying in the affirmative, he expressed him- 
self much pleased with the colonel's distinguished bearing 
and intelligence, and said he would like to see him ap- 
pointed as Minister to Corea also, not only as an honor 
to the colonel, but because it would be a convenience to 
all parties concerned, and there seems to be but little 
doubt that such an arrangement, if it were allowed by 
our Grovernment, would not only be an economy, but it 
would be productive of excellent results. I explained to 
his Excellency that Congress controls all such matters, 
and that neither the President nor the Secretary of State 
would feel at liberty to do what he had suggested with- 
out the authority of a law specially authorizing it. I 
assured bird, however, that I would take an early oppor- 
tunity to make his views known, and this I did by cable. 
The conversation now took a wider and less formal 
range, champagne, of which the Chinese are very 
fond, was drunk, and although this is generally the 
signal for closing an interview, it was not intended 
as such in the case now under consideration. To the 
contrary, the Viceroy then returned to the subject of 
railroads and asked many questions as to their use, their 



LI HUNG- CHANG, VICEROY OF CHIHLL 115 

probable cost in China, the best system for the Cbinese 
to adopt, and also what woiild be the relative cost of 
transportation by railroad and canal. In reference to 
the lasfc-mentioned subject he said : " General Grant told 
me when he was in China that transportation by canal 
was cheaper than by railroad. How is this ? " I gave 
him my yiews fully on that subject, and illustrated them 
by reference to the facts and statistics, which are familiar 
to all students of the subject and need not be repeated 
here ; but when I told him that eyen if there were any 
doubt as to the relative merits of railroads and canals, 
when speed as well as the actual cost of transportation 
for freight and passengers were considered, and expressed 
the opinion that he could surely entertain no doubt as to 
which was best when he remembered the additional and 
important fact that in a climate like that of Northern 
China the canal must necessarily freeze up and remain 
closed for three or four months of the year, while the 
railroad would remain open all the year round, he frankly 
admitted that the considerations I had cited were con- 
clusive, and reiterated his declaration that China must 
have railroads. 

He then made some practical suggestions as to the 
way in which I could most profitably spend my time 
while in China, pointed out several expeditions which he 
thought I ought to make in order to get a practical idea 
of the country, and of the difficulties which would be 
encountered in building railroads in it, and, after express- 
ing the wish that I should see him often, he indicated 
that the interview was closed. It was now about sun- 
set, and the room had become so dark that lights would 
have soon been necessary. We accordingly rose to take 
our leave. The Viceroy was then standing, and, seeing 
us ready to start, he turned and passed out into the cor- 
ridor. I took my place by his side and walked with 



116 CHINA. 

him toward the main entrance of the Yamen, and during 
our progress the stillness was broken by a sudden but 
muffled roll of drums and a blare of brazen trumpets 
from the court-yard, which was yery weird and impress- 
ive. It continued till we had reached the inner court- 
yard, where we had left our chairs. The Viceroy stopped 
at the edge of this court, and, turning toward me, grasped 
my hand most cordially in foreign style, saying : '^ You 
are my friend and I am your friend," and then bade me 
good-by in a most polite and courtly manner. He did 
not turn away at once, but stood bowing to me, with his 
own hands clasped and raised to his chin, until I had re- 
entered my chair, which I of course did not do till I had 
turned and recognized his ciyility as best I could. 

At a subsequent interview, just as I was entering the 
YamcD, I again heard the roll of the kettle-drum near 
at hand, but this time, instead of a ^^ flourish," it was 
the signal for the close of the official day, and *^ set- 
ting the watch " about the premises for the night. On 
stepping outside the waiting-room, I saw the drummer 
standing at the right of the door, beating a large sonor- 
ous drum like those used in Western orchestras ; his 
hands were flying witK the greatest rapidity, but every 
now and then, with measured regularity, he would strike 
a heavier blow. Farther out in the dim twilight there 
were two trumpeters clad in white robes, and each play- 
ing a long, straight brass trumpet, of the kind depictured 
in Old Testament scenes. Each raised his instrument in 
unison with the other, till it was nearly perpendicular, 
and, while lowering it slowly to the level, blew a long, 
quavering blast, now soft and low, now loud and strong, 
but always in harmony with the drum, and always with a 
strange weird sweetness of tone, which impressed me pro- 
foundly. Pausing a moment, they raised their trumpets 
as before, repeating the strange, semi-barbaric and yet 



''SETTING THE WATGH:' 117 

pleasing music over and over again for perhaps five 
minutes, after which they let it die away as though they 
were disappearing in the distance. The drummer, with 
softening beat, closed the ceremony by giving three 
measured taps, which, after a short pause, were followed 
by three strokes of a musical bell. And then the watch- 
men marched away to their various posts for the night. 
This ceremony, I was told, is conducted daily at every 
provincial Yamen, and at the headquarters of every 
army. If a modern musical composer could give it, 
with proper scenic accessories and instrumental accom- 
paniment as I heard it, I am sure it would prove to be 
a striking and interesting entertainment to a Western 
audience. 



CHAPTER X. 

Li Hung-Chang — His public career — Influence of Generals Ward and 
Gordon — English misconception of their character — The career of 
Burgevine — The influence of the war threatened with Russia — Gor- 
don revisited China — The introduction of telegraphs — Messages sent 
in English, or cipher — Memorial of Liu Ming-Chu'an on the intro- 
duction of railways — Referred to Li Hung-Chang and Lin K'un-Yi 
— The memorial of Li Hung-Chang and Lin K'un-Yi — Tso Tsung- 
Tang's dying memorial on the same subject — No official action yet 
taken thereupon — The essence of progress and the death-knell of 
conservatism. 

Li Hung-Ohakg, now by far the most conspicuous 
figure on tlie Chinese theatre of action, is a pure China- 
man, with no trace of Tartar blood in his veins. He 
comes of a family, six or seven generations of which 
have attained high literary rank but only moderate for- 
tune, was born in the province of N'gan-whei, and early 
gave promise of decided literary ability, which in China 
is the only test of fitness for office — having successfully 
passed the three public examinations, and obtained in the 
last one at Peking the highest degree known in the hier- 
archy of Chinese scholarship. He is a fellow of the Han- 
lin College — the most learned body of men in the empire. 
By the time he had reached middle age he had passed 
through the various grades and public employments open 
to men of his attainments. Shortly after the Taiping 
rebellion reached his native province, he was appointed 
to the staff of the general acting against the rebels, and 
was engaged in the various operations in the Kiang prov- 



LI HUNG- CHANG, VICEROY OF CHIHLL 119 

inces, from 1853 till the close of the rebellion, during the 
latter part of which he was in chief command of the im- 
perial forces. In February, 1863, he was made Superin- 
tendent of Trade for the southern ports. In 1866 he was 
appointed special commissioner for the suppression of the 
Menfei rebellion, and in 1870 he was directed to settle 
the difficulty with the French and Eussians arising from 
the Tientsin massacre. He has since that time been spe- 
cial commissioner for the settlement of the Yunnan ques- 
tion, and for readjusting the various treaties and arrange- 
ments with foreign powers ; and, in all matters intrusted 
to him, has acquitted himself with such marked ability, 
that the Empress Eegent bestowed upon him, January 
9, 1875, the office of Senior First Grand Secretary, which 
is equiyalent to saying that he is the first ciyilian of the 
empire. 

Chinese custom and law require a public official to re- 
tire from all public employments for three years upon the 
death of his mother. Haying been appointed Groyernor- 
General of Ohihli in 1870, on the death of his mother 
(in 1882) he retired from office, but was ordered to re- 
turn to his post as Viceroy after the expiration of only 
one hundred days of mourning. Shortly afterward, at 
his earnest request, he was allowed to vacate his posts as 
Grand Secretary and Viceroy, but was again compelled to 
resume office in August, 1883.* 

In this connection it is worthy of note that no Chi- 
naman can hold office in his native province, nor can 
any near relative hold office under him. It is also 
worthy of note that in China, as in America, the civil 
functions of government are supposed to be superior to 

* Biographical table of the high officials composing the central and 
provincial governments of China, published as an Appendix to the trans- 
lation of the "Peking Gazette" for 1884. 



120 CEIXA. 

the military functions. The scholar, therefore, looks 
down upon the soldier, but is frequently called upon to 
perform the highest military duty. The governor-gen- 
eral of a province is ex-officio the commander-in-chief 
of its military forces, and, whenever necessity requires 
it, is compelled to lead them in the field. In accord- 
ance with this rule, Li, who had come to be one of 
the leading scholars of the country, also became in due 
course of time its most conspicuous if not actually its 
ablest soldier. In the terrible struggle which ensued for 
the suppression of the rebellion, he had Tso Tsung- 
tang, Tseng Quo-fan, and Tseng Quo-chu'an for coad- 
jutors; but, without disparaging these able men, it is 
safe to say that he received by far the most valuable as- 
sistance given to him from the ^' Ever- Victorious Army," 
which was organized by the American Ward, and con- 
sisted of native Chinamen, instructed and led by foreign 
officers. Ward, it will be remembered, was killed at the 
head of his force after an extraordinary career, in which 
he showed skill, courage, and organizing capacity of a 
high order. He was succeeded by Burgevine, another 
American of great bravery, but of bad habits and an un- 
governable temper, which soon brought him into dis- 
grace. The force then fell temporarily under the com- 
mand of an Englishman, who proved to be incompetent, 
and was in turn succeeded by Gordon, an officer of the 
Eoyal British Engineers, who had the qualities of a true 
soldier, and speedily restored the discipline and pres- 
tige of the force. He adopted the methods of Ward, 
even in the matter of leading his men into action with a 
walking-cane or wand in his hand as the sole sign of his 
authority. By great activity and rigid discipline, com- 
bined with a thorough knowledge of the theatre of war, 
gained by actual surveys which he had previously made 
for the British authorities, he soon brought the rebellion 



LI EUNQ-GHANG, YIGEROY OF GHIELI. 121 

to desperate straits. Of course he had the co-operation of 
the imperial commanders in all combined undertakings. 
He was especially subject to the orders of Governor- 
General Li, and made no campaign except with his consent 
and under his control. This fact has been too frequently 
ignored or glossed over by English writers, to the dispar- 
agement of Ward, who was undeniably an able man, and 
without whose untimely death it is more than likely that 
the English commander, great as were his abilities, would 
never have become known to history as Chinese Gordon, 
and also of Li, whose intelligence and sound judgment 
enabled him to perceive, even at that early day, the vast 
superiority of foreign organization, discipline, and arms, 
and, in spite of the prejudice of his ablest coadjutor, in- 
duced him, in desperate undertakings, to put his main re- 
liance upon the " Ever- Victorious Army." In other words, 
it was Li who upheld Gordon and gave him the chance 
to use, with such terrible effect, the organization which 
had been fashioned to his hand in all essential particulars 
by Ward, the intrepid Yankee sailor. Another circum- 
stance in connection with Gordon, frequently overlooked, 
is, that he was not intrusted with the exclusive control 
of the force, but had a Chinese adlatus, who, nominally 
at least, had as much to say as himself. How far this 
was an actual limitation upon the independence of Gor- 
don does not appear in the histories of that period, all of 
which were written by Englishmen ; but there is reason 
for believing that he was not wholly trusted either by Li 
or his lieutenants. 

The final surrender of the Taiping chieftains was 
made to Gordon on his assurance that their lives should 
be spared, but this was an innovation upon Chinese 
methods of concluding such matters, and it was repu- 
diated ; the prisoners were slain, and a hot feud arose 
between Gordon and Li in reference to it. Gordon 
T 



122 CHINA. 

charged Li with bad faith, and is said to haye sought 
for him three days with a revolyer, openly avowing that 
he would kill him on sight. Fortunately for China, 
and probably for himself, his anger was evanescent, and 
soon friendly if not intimate relations were re-established 
between him and Li. High honors, including a yellow 
jacket and a grafcuity of ten thousand taels, were be- 
stowed upon him by the Imperial Government, but he 
rejected the latter with the plain though perhaps un- 
necessary intimation that he was no mercenary soldier of 
fortune. Still feeling aggrieved at the execution of the 
Taiping chieftains, and perceiving that the rebellion was 
over, he resigned his commission and the force was dis- 
banded. This was perhaps a wise measure, for it had 
come to regard itself as the only respectable military 
organization in the empire. Its officers had from the 
first been more or less inclined to be insolent, and Burge- 
vine at least had threatened more than once, when he got 
through with the rebels, to turn the force against the im- 
perial armies, and, after overthrowing them, to drive out 
the reigning dynasty at Peking, and make himself master 
of China. 

The subsequent career of Burgevine was romantic but 
unfortunate. After being relieved from the command, he 
went to Peking and protested against the treatment he 
had received at Li's hands, and so much interested Mr. 
Burlingame, the American minister, and Sir Thomas 
Wade, the British minister, in his case, that, through their 
intercession, the Peking authorities sent him back to Li, 
with a vague sort of request that he might be restored 
to command. Li, who doubtless knew him better than 
his diplomatic friends, or had some secret understanding 
with the Government, declined to reinstate him, and after 
a short time he made his way through the hues and joined 
the Taiping rebels. They in turn failed to treat him 



LI EUNG-GHANG, VIGEEOY OF GEIELL 123 

with that consideration which he regarded as his due, or 
he saw that they could not possibly succeed even with his 
help, and consequently he left them, making his way back 
through the imperial lines, probably by consent, to the 
sea-coast, whence he sailed for Japan. Eemaining in that 
country for several months, he again became discontented, 
and returned to China, it is said, in yiolation of a tacit 
agreement with the imperial authorities, under which he 
had been permitted to depart from China without mo- 
lestation. At all events, he was speedily apprehended 
and sent into the interior under escort. Efforts were 
made by foreigners, and especially the American consul 
at Shanghai, to secure his release ; but, whether by design 
or accident has never been clearly established, he was 
drowned by the upsetting of a boat while crossing a river. 
Li's experience with Ward, Burgevine, and Gordon, 
and also with the foreign ministers, consuls, and naval 
officers, during the closing days of the rebellion, was of 
such character as to put him somewhat on his guard 
against foreign influence, which was by no means at all 
times entirely disinterested ; but, nevertheless, it inspired 
him with a high opinion of foreign skill and ability in 
military and naval matters. It familiarized him with for- 
eign methods, and must in some degree have shaken his 
confidence in those of his own countrymen. As a reward 
for the craft and discretion displayed in his management 
of affairs in Che-kiang, he was, as before stated, appointed 
Governor-General of the metropolitan province of Chihli 
in 1870, with the enlarged powers of a Viceroy, and the 
high offices of tutor to the young Emperor, Grand Secre- 
tary, and virtual Minister for Foreign Affairs. In this 
position he was thrown more and more into relations with 
foreigners, by whom he soon came to be regarded as an 
exceedingly able diplomatist. As special commissioner, 
he negotiated new treaties with most of the treaty powers, 



124 CEmA. 

and, notwithstanding the fact that he was confronted by 
men of great skill and experience, it is now apparent that 
he was by no means oyermatched by them. 

When the difficulties arose with Russia in 1881, in 
regard to the northern boundary, and war appeared to be 
imminent, he sent for Gordon, who had been many years 
in England, and it is said offered him command of the 
imperial forces. Gordon revisited China, and remained 
in conference with Li for several months, but finally re- 
turned to Europe when it was evident that the war-cloud 
had passed away. There is the best of reason for believ- 
ing that Gordon, at the time of this visit, had not only 
entirely forgiven the viceroy for putting the Taiping 
chieftains to death, but wished to secure for him the 
highest possible position which a Chinaman could hold, and 
was willing to undertake an adventure in his behalf quite 
as desperate as any Burgevine had ever contemplated for 
himself. I mention this circumstance for the purpose of 
showing that Gordon was not a safe adviser in all things, 
as well as that the viceroy's prudence and loyalty were 
proof against temptation, no matter from what quarter it 
came, nor how great an'honor it held out to him. 

It was during this period that the Viceroy memorial- 
ized the Throne, and obtained permission to erect tele- 
graph lines to the principal provincial capitals and com- 
mercial cities of the northern and southern seaboards. 
The work was done under the personal direction of Mr. 
Carl H. 0. Poulsen, assisted by Mr. Culmsee, formerly 
officers of the Danish Cable Company's service. They 
have now in operation about five thousand miles of line, 
connecting Seoul, the capital of Corea, Mukden, the capi- 
tal of Manchuria and the home of the reigning dynasty, 
Port Arthur, Shan-hai-kwan, Peking, Tientsin, Taku, 
Chinan-foo, Che-fu, Chin-kiang, Shanghai, IS'anking, 
Wuchang, Hankow, Hang -chow, Mng-po, Eoochow, 



J 



TELEGRAPH LmES, 125 

Amoy, Canton, and Kin, and are fast extending it to all 
tlie provincial capitals in the interior, and also through 
Mongolia to the Eussian border, Notwithstanding this is 
as great an innoyation as anything which could be sug- 
gested, and was opposed at first by the conseryatives, it is 
now desired by every governor, prefect, and magistrate, as 
well as by every intelligent merchant throughout the em- 
pire, and is in no way molested by the common people. 
All the operators are Chinese, who have been taught Eng- 
lish and telegraphy in America, or in a school established 
for that purpose at Tientsin, under the immediate charge 
of Messrs. Poulsen and Culmsee. The Chinese written 
language being a language of idiographs, with a separate 
character for each word, instead of syllables made up of 
distinct sounds represented by letters, it is imjoossible to 
send by the Morse system a message written in such char- 
acters, but the difficulty is overcome by representing each 
character by a combination of three Arabic numerals, and 
then sending the corresponding figure-message, which the 
operator at the receiving oflSce immediately transposes 
into the proper characters, by reference to a key, a copy 
of which is in the hands of every operator. The system 
is very ingenious, and, although it has certain defects, 
works with as much satisfaction as could be expected. 
Of course, it is equivalent to putting every Chinese mes- 
sage into a foreign language, which, in view of the fact 
that there are something like eight thousand characters 
in common use, and nearly forty-five thousand in all, 
each of which must have its equivalent combination of 
three figures, it is easy to see requires a large key, and 
much time for the preparation of each message. It is 
much easier to send an English message, because the tele- 
graph system is specially adapted to that, and every opera- 
tor is required to know enough English to read the mes- 
sages fluently, and to write a good plain hand. 



126 CEmA, 

It was also during the excitement growing out of tlie 
probability of a war with Russia, that the Viceroy Li 
prepared and submitted to the Throne a very remarkable 
memorial, setting forth at length the reasons favoring 
the immediate construction of railroads. This was pre- 
ceded, however, by a memorial from Liu Ming-Chu'an, at 
that time a general in the Chinese army, but now Gov- 
ernor-General of the Island of Formosa, and, besides 
being one of the Viceroy Li's most devoted friends and 
adherents, is an able and progressive man, still in the 
prime of life. 

Although I find other allusions to railroads in the 
'^ Peking Gazette," these memorials are the first formal 
presentation of the subject to the Throne, and inasmuch 
as they have been published in the ofiicial gazette, for the 
information of Chinese subjects, I deem it best to set 
them forth at large herein. They are not only important 
state papers, but may have great historical value here- 
after. Moreover, they show how Chinese statesmen com- 
municate with the Throne, and also the state of knowl- 
edge existing among them in regard to this most impor- 
tant subject : 

Memorial of Liu Ming- Chu^an, a general i7i the Chinese 
army, in retirement, recommending the immediate in- 
troduction of railways as a means of augmenting the 
power of the country.* 

" Your Majesties' slave, Liu Ming-Ch'uan, etc., etc., 
upon his knees addresses the throne. Looking upward, 
he implores the glances of Your Sacred Majesties upon a 
memorial, reverently prepared, showing that as the situa- 
tion of the empire is daily becoming more critical, and 

* It is understood that this memorial was prepared at the instance 
of the Viceroy Li. 



MEMOEIAL OF LIU MmG-GEIPAK 127 

as difficulties from without are pressing harder upon us 
day by day, immediate consideration should be given to 
the question of introducing railways as a means whereby 
to augment the power of the empire. 

^' Your slave's merits sink into insignificance when 
compared with the abundant favors which have been 
bestowed upon him since his withdrawal from the army, 
in consequence of illness. Your slave, in the retirement 
of his garden home, has always studied the relations be- 
tween China and foreign countries, with the result that 
he has often been awaked and brought to his feet in the 
hours of night to find his eyes streaming with tears from 
anxiety. He feels mortified at the thought that all his 
dog- or horse-like * exertions are inadequate to repay one 
ten-thousandth part of the favors which he has received. 

'' Eecently he had the honor to be summoned by Your 
Majesties, and in contempt of his sickness came to the 
capital. On his arrival he was further honored by being 
summoned into the impei^ial presence, when he received 
full and comjolete instructions, his gratitude and respect 
for which your slave can not find words to express. 

" Your slave conceives it to be the duty of an officer 
toward his sovereign to speak when he learns anything 
that should be known to his master, and, acting on this 
principle, he feels it his duty, with all diligence, respect- 
fully to submit to Your Imperial Majesties, the Empress 
Dowager and the Emperor, that the introduction of 
changes are matters which are attended with the gravest 
embarrassments, and the adoption of measures which may 
result in benefit or in injury to the country are consid- 
erations of the gravest importance. 

* A mode of expression designed to humble one's self when speaking 
of favors received. (The dog can watch its master's house, and the 
horse can draw or carry burdens for him.) 



128 cnmA. 

^^ The troubles wliich haye beset China since she re- 
moved the bolts and ojDened her doors to engage in trade 
with foreign countries are by far more numerous and 
embarrassing than anything she has had to meet from 
her enemies since the earliest ages. These foreigners^ in 
their dealings with us, are ever ready, on the smallest 
pretext, to create a dispute whereby they may deceive 
and oppress us, and, when there is a quarrel between any 
one of them and ourselves, the others press around and 
eagerly watch for an opportunity. 

^' Russia's southern frontier (in Asia) is very extensive ; 
so much so, that it is contiguous to and interlocked with 
our northern, eastern, and western frontiers ; we feel her 
grip on our throat, and her fist upon our back, and our 
contact with her is a source of perpetual uneasiness to 
our hearts and minds. But our long season of weakness 
and inaction disables us from making a show of strength, 
and our only alternative, therefore, is to patiently bear 
insult and obloquy. When a quarrel occurs we have to 
yield to her demands and make a compromise, regardless 
of money, in order to avert the dangers of war. 

"It must be rememb'ered, however, that along-endur- 
ing peace between two countries is a thing that can not 
be relied upon as a certainty, and that the wealth of 
a nation is not unbounded. If we make no departure 
from our present conservatism, what strength can we 
hope to acquire ? 

"There are those who speak thoughtlessly of going 
to war. In this connection your slave would beg to ob- 
serve that the essential point before going to war is to 
ascertain the condition of the enemy's forces. Russia 
has built railways which run from Europe to the neigh- 
borhood of Hao Han, and she purposes to build one from 
Hai-Shen-Wei to Hui Ch'un, and the reason why she did 
not proceed to send troops recently, when the quarrel 



MEMOEIAL OF LIU MINQ-CEU'AK. 129 

with us commenced, is not that she feared to encounter 
our soldiers, but that her railways were not quite com- 
pleted. Your slave foresees that, before ten years are 
passed, some immeasurable disaster may be looked for 
from that quarter. 

"Now, Japan is an extremely small country — ^like a 
pill. Her rulers, however, have adopted Western mechani- 
cal arts ; and relying on her possession of railways, she 
attempts now and again to be arrogant — like a mantis 
when it assumes an air of defiance — and to despise China, 
and gives us no small amount of trouble on the smallest 
pretext. 

"Your slave is much grieved and distressed when h& 
thinks that if the present time is allowed to go past 
without measures being taken to strengthen our country, 
how vain it will be to repent when it is too late. 

" Although it is true that the proper way to proceed 
to strengthen our country is by drilling troops and manu- 
facturing arms, etc., regularly in their turn, yet it must 
be confessed that the immediate construction of railways 
will be the main-spring of our country's strength. 

" It would be difficult to enumerate all the advantages 
that will be derived from the possession of railways ; 
such, for instance, as facilitating the transportation of 
the grain-tax, affording prompt and effective communi- 
cation in the distribution of relief, the extension of com- 
merce, the furtherance of mining operations, the sup- 
pression of likin* stations, and the improved system of 
traveling. But the principal advantage that will be 
derived from them is the more effective method of trans- 
porting troops, and this consideration renders it im- 
portant that their introduction should not be delayed. 

* Stations in the interior for the collection of taxes on goods in 
transit. 



130 CEmA. 

"The area of China's territory is very great. Her 
northern frontier stretches out to a length of 10,000 li* 
and is conterminous with the confines of Russia ; more- 
over, there are foreigners of many nationalities resident 
at. the treaty ports, who are engaged in trade with our 
people. To draw a line on our frontier and guard it 
against invasion is a matter which, in spite of our desire, 
we are unable to do. ^Although we ride about on a 
fleet horse, and do not spare the whip, we are unable to 
come up in time. ' f If railways are built all parts of the 
country, north, south, east, and west, will be within easy 
communication, and in case of war we can form our plans 
according to our observations of the enemy's movements. 
It will be easy to come to a given point in a few days, 
although the distance be 10,000 U, and a million troops 
can be brought together at one call ; and such irregulari- 
ties as confusion and hurry when troops are ordered to 
move and obstructions and delays in the transport of 
materials and supplies, and similar vexatious embarrass- 
ments will be removed. The strength of an army con- 
sists in its troops being united, and a state of division 
means weakness. 

" China numbers eighteen provinces [now nineteen] ; 
her troops are not few, nor are her supplies insufficient ; 
but the troops and supplies of each province are under 
the control of its high provincial officers. The affairs of 
each province being thus confined to its own limits, the 
result is the division of interests that should be united in 
one mutual and common concern. In case of war, each 
province has barely time to concert its own plans, and 
when called upon to furnish troops or supplies has not 
the means wherewith to meet the demand. They are un- 

* A 7i is equal to about one third of an English mile, 
f Metaphor for " Our movements are too slow to guard the vast ex- 
tent of our country." 



MEMORIAL OF LIU MING-CEWAK 131 

able, moreover, to come forward with, the necessary relief 
in times of adversity, although an edict be issued from the 
throne visiting the responsible officers with severe punish- 
ment. With the construction of railways the power of the 
country will be concentrated, its arteries will be unob- 
structed, the number of soldiers may be diminished, sup- 
plies curtailed, and several regiments converted into one 
effective corps. In the protection of our frontiers and sea- 
board, the necessary materials, such as artillery, etc., can 
be transported with surpassing rapidity [literally between 
the dawn and twilight]. Troops garrisoned at different 
stations can be converted into an effective active battalion, 
and the strength of the eighteen provinces will be brought 
into one center. One soldier may be made as efficient as 
ten. Hereafter the army and commissariat will be under 
the control of the central Government, which will become 
the seat of importance, while the provincial administra- 
tion will remain auxiliary and secondary, and the efficiency 
of the army will not be exposed to be impaired and ob- 
structed by the failures of provincial officers. 

'*In the present state of our affairs the expenditure 
required for the defenses of our frontiers makes a sensible 
diminution in the revenue of the country, the prosperity 
of the people is fettered by the lekin excise, the wealth 
of the country is being monopolized by foreign merchants, 
and the riches of the land are daily diminishing. There 
are signs portending some great calamity. But if rail- 
ways are constructed, the profits to be derived from their 
working will suffice for the maintenance of troops. Some 
of the lekin stations may be abolished after due consid- 
eration, and the worries caused by complaints of foreign 
merchants regarding transit passes, etc., will be avoided. 
It would be difficult to devise any other plan more emi- 
nently calculated to benefit the prosperity of the country 
and to further the happiness of the people. 



132 CEmA. 

''The reasons why Eussia is overbearing in her rela- 
tions with us^ and why Japan underrates iis, are to be 
found in the fact that China has only one corner of her 
vast possessions protected, is afraid to face difficulties, and 
is incapable of rousing her en*ergies, because possessed of 
an inordinately pacific disposition. But the day when an 
imperial edict is issued sanctioning the construction of 
railways it will be manifesting our desire to strengthen 
ourselves, and the life and energy of our country will in- 
stantly be roused. This intelligence will startle those 
countries ; and while, in the first place, we shall find it 
easier to agree to the terms of a treaty with Eussia, on 
the other hand the insidious designs of Jajpan will insen- 
sibly disappear. 

" Some time in the current year, the Viceroy, Li Hung- 
Ohang, memorialized the throne praying for the sanction 
of a telegraph line to be laid along the coast. Telegraphs 
are one of the essential requirements in the operations of 
an army, and if constructed as auxiliaries to and in con- 
junction with railways, there will be a large saving in 
expense, as well as increased facility of supervision. If 
any difficulty be encountered in raising the requisite funds 
for the construction of railways, and doubts arise as to 
our inability to proceed with the work, your slave thinks 
that the plan of inviting contributions from the mercan- 
tile classes is not unworthy of consideration ; but if this 
plan be infeasible in consequence of the wide dispersion 
of these classes, the contraction of a foreign loan is the 
only plan worthy to be considered, if there exists a desire 
to avail ourselves of the present time for the construe^ 
tion of railways. 

^'^If the contraction of a foreign loan in aid of the 
Government be held to be an impossibility, a loan for this 
purpose may be considered an exception. It is a means 
whereby a source of profit may be opened up, and the 



MEMORIAL OF LIU MING-GRU'AK 133 

money expended will be represented in the materials and 
plant. These are considerations which will induce the 
foreign banker to gladly accommodate us with the loan. 

'' The Goyernment will haye no difficulty in repaying 
the debt. As the interest asked will be small and the 
time for repayment ample, it may be liquidated with the 
profit of the undertaking. The mechanics of the West 
are expert in manufacturing railways, and are, moreoyer, 
eager for an opportunity of displaying their skill in our 
Celestial country. Your slaye belieyes the present occa- 
sion is especially opportune, and one that should not be 
missed. 

" Two lines of railways are urgently needed in China : 
One to ,go from Chin-kiang [on the Yang-tse-kiang] 
through the provinces of Shantung and Chihli, haying 
its terminus at Peking ; the other to go from Hankow 
through Honan to Peking. There should be, besides 
this, two northern routes, one from Peking running east- 
ward to Shengking, the other running westward to Kansu. 
But as it will be difficult to undertake all these lines 
at once, in consequence of the enormous outlay that 
will be required, your slaye would suggest and prays 
that sanction be giyen for the construction, first, of the 
line from Chin-kiang to Peking, to be in connection 
with the line of telegraph which it is proposed to lay 
this year. As the proyinces of Shantung and Chihli 
coyer a large tract of territory through which this rail- 
road will haye to pass, and as stories are likely to be cur- 
rent about its interference with the family grayes and 
homes of the people, much opposition to it must be ex- 
pected from those who are ignorant that the goyern- 
ment roads are broad, and that the space required for the 
permanent way will be little more than ten feet, and that 
the railway will in no way interfere with their homes and 
grayeyards ; but if obstacles do present themselyes in the 



134: cnmA. 

way of the line, it will be easy to avoid them by a slight 
detour. 

'^ Your slave, while engaged in extirpating the rebels 
in former years, traveled all through the empire, and 
has frequently traversed the provinces in question. He 
is therefore perfectly familiar with the condition of the 
country, and the circumstances of the inhabitants ; he 
would not dare to be careless or reckless in forming his 
opinions so positively. 

"Should this business, which so closely concerns the 
efficiency of the army, and is so intimately connected 
with the weal or woe of the empire, be honored with 
the sanction of Your Majesties, your slave would pray 
that an edict be issued instructing the Board of Foreign 
Affairs to take the matter into immediate consideration, 
and to memorialize in reply. If, however, indecision and 
procrastination prevail, and the business be regarded as a 
thing that can be put off to a future day, it is much to 
be feared that, after the treaty with Kussia is signed, the 
construction of railways will be indefinitely postponed, 
like the case of the ' man who, wanting to build a house, 
concerts his plans with passers in the street,'* and also 
that the lesson taught in ancient history by ^sleeping on 
straw and tasting the bitter gall ' f will become a vain 
waste of words, and that the day will never come when 
an effort to strengthen our country will be made. 

" Your slave has written out the reasons which have 
prompted him to make this request for the introduction 
of railways as a means of augmenting the power of the 

* That is, does not make up his mind and go to work seriously. 

f An allegory drawn from ancient Chinese history, in which the ruler 
of a certain state, being overcome by his enemies, slept on straw and 
tasted the bitter gall to inure himself to hardship, and to foster resent- 
ment and a determination for strength to be revenged, which he was 
eventually enabled to accomplish by vanquishing his victors. 



MEMORIAL OF LIU MING-GHU'AN. 135 

country in a memorial, reyerently prepared, which he 
now submits to the throne. Prostrate, he prays Your 
Majesties, the Empress - Dowager and the Emperor, to 
cast your sacred glances thereon, and to announce your 
pleasure regarding the feasibility or otherwise of the rec- 
ommendations set forth therein." 

This memorial was referred by the Imperial Govern- 
ment to Li Hung-Ohang and Lin K'un-Yi, no:'%ern and 
southern superintendents of trade, and they supported and 
supplemented it as follows : 

" Your Majesties' servants, Li Hung-Chang, northern 
superintendent of trade, and Lin K'un-Yi, southern super- 
intendent of trade, upon their knees address the Throne : 
Looking upward they implore the sacred glances of Your 
Majesties upon a memorial reverently prepared, showing 
that, in obedience to an imperial rescript, a satisfactory 
consultation has been held upon the subject of railways, 
and that as their construction is a question of the fore- 
most importance in augmenting the power of the country 
and promoting its prosperity, measures should be imme- 
diately devised whereby to raise the necessary funds for 
their construction, and steps taken in the first place to 
appoint a competent person to make a careful study of 
the subject. 

" Your servants would humbly state that they had the 
honor to receive from the Grand Council, who had private- 
ly communicated to them, the Imperial Edict of Decem- 
ber 3d, as follows : 

" * Whereas, Liu Ming-Chu'an has memorialized us re- 
garding the formation of railways, and has recommended 
that steps be taken for the construction first of a line 
from Chin-kiang to Peking, to be in connection with the 
line of telegraph which Li Hung-Chang has asked for 
permission to establish this year, the purport of the me- 



136 cnmA. 

morial being to recommend the adoption of measures 
whereby to augment the power of the country : 

" ' Let Li Hung- Chang and Lin K'un-Yi carefully 
consider the proposals set forth therein, and let them 
memorialize the result of their deliberations. 

" ' Let a copy of Liu Ming-Chu'an's memorial be 
made and forwarded to them. 

'' ' Eespect this ! ' 

" Looking upward, your seryants behold with unspeak- 
able respect and submission their sacred master's anxiety 
concerning the present troubles, and his untiring endeay- 
ors to deyise plans for rousing the energies of the country, 
and incessant efforts to obtain information on every side. 

'' Prostrate, your seryants beg to make the following 
obseryations : 

*^In the earliest ages, when mankind were first creat- 
ed, the nine diyisions of China were subdivided into some 
ten thousand different states, each of which had its own 
habits and customs. Although within a few hundred li 
of each other, they were divided and had no intercourse 
with each other. When the sages came into existence, 
men learned to scoop out logs of wood and convert 
them into canoes ; wood was hewed into paddles, and 
with the aid of these paddles and canoes they crossed 
over to places which were before inaccessible ; oxen were 
yoked to carts and horses were mounted ; heavy burdens 
were dragged to great distances, and thus all parts of the 
world became benefited. It is over four thousand years 
from that time to the present, and all parts of the coun- 
try, north, south, east, and west, have the same doctrine 
and the same literature ; a condition of things that may 
rightly be styled flourishing. 

"■ The nations of the West have alirays studied the arts 
with minute care, and they all manufacture steamboats 
and railways. Although the earth is about ninety thou- 



MEMORIAL OF LI EUNG-GEANG. 137 

sand li in circumference, they are able to surmount all 
obstacles, and travel through almost every part of it. 
They have superseded the boats and chariots bequeathed 
to us by the old sages, by putting forth new ideas and 
producing inventions which appear to be Heaven-sent for 
the benefit of mankind. 

"In these latter years China has derived no small 
amount of benefit by imitating Western nations, and 
building steamboats. The human intellect becomes en- 
lightened after it has been obscure. Kough materials are 
transformed into utensils for use. Communities get 
united after being divided. These are the natural results 
of the laws of [tsTature, and it is neither wisdom nor force 
that can restrain them. 

*^Eailways first had their origin in England, in the 
working of coal-mines. In the first year of the reign of 
Tao-Kwang, the tracks, which were to keep the wheels of 
the cars in control, were first laid down, and from that 
time the invention gradually improved. They were used 
in transporting coal and iron to the markets for sale, and 
the profits realized were very great. Their use was sub- 
sequently extended to every branch of industry and trade, 
and England came to be the champion of Europe ; 
France, America, Russia, Germany, and other great na- 
tions then followed suit, and built railways, and it was 
only after they possessed them that they were enabled to 
encroach upon and usurp the land of their neighbors and 
open up and reclaim wild territory. As the populations 
of these countries increased, and trade flourished, they 
had to extend their railways in order to meet the im- 
proved circumstances of the times. From that time the 
two continents of Europe and America became accessible 
from all points of the compass, as each had constructed 
some hundred thoifeand U of railroads. Troops ordered 
to a given point reach their destination in a day. 



138 CEINA. 

and news and tidings trayel with tlie rapidity of the 
wind. 

" The daily increase in prosperity and strength that 
has marked the progress of these nations throughout the 
last forty or fifty years may be ascribed to the fact that 
they possess steamers that plow through the sea, and rail- 
ways that make traveling by land exceedingly convenient. 

*^Now, to speak of Japan, she is a small, insignificant 
country, yet she possesses railways that run across the 
whole of her country. Her idea is that, by adopting West- 
ern mechanical improvements, she will have it in her 
power to despise China. 

**Eussia has railways that run from Europe to within 
a short distance of Hao Han, Kiakhta, and neighboring 
places, and she is abou t to build a line from Hai Shen 
Wei to Hui Chun. The frontiers of China and Eussia 
are co-terminous with each other for some ten thousand IL 
If we build some railways now while it is time, the pres- 
ent force of our army will be amply sufficient to pro- 
tect our frontier ; but without railways all our endeavors 
to protect that frontier will be futile, even though we in- 
crease our troops and supplies. 

" China's isolation in being without railways, when all 
other nations possess them, may be aptly illustrated by 
supposing those who lived in the middle ages to have 
discarded the use of the boats and chariots of their time. 
They could not help being behind other men in all their 
movements. 

*^ Your servants estimate that the advantages to he de- 
rived by the possession of railways may be classed under 
about nine principal divisions : 

^'1. The country north of the Yang-tse and Hwai 
Elvers is rather destitute of water-courses, unlike the 
southern provinces which ahound with rivers and streams, 
by which all manner of goods are conveyed in different 



MEMORIAL OF LI EUNG-GHANG. 139 

directions. It is owing to this that out of the twenty 
to thirty million taels of revenue derived yearly from 
foreign goods and lekin, the southern provinces provide 
about nine tenths, while the northern provinces figure 
for one tenth only ; whereas, if railways are gradu- 
ally built, communication will be established throughout 
the country like the threads in a loom, commodities can 
be transported and interchanged between the different 
provinces according to their respective wants. The idle 
population of the northern provinces will become indus- 
trious ; no part of arable land will be allowed to remain 
unprofitable, nor the energies of man lie dormant, and 
the condition of the country will gradually become one of 
affluence. The customary duties and lekin can be levied 
at the important points of the line, so that the revenue 
derived from these sources will be equally divided between 
the northern and southern provinces. This is the first 
advantage that will accrue to the finances of the country. 
*' 2. It is a well-known fact that union in an army 
means strength, and that weakness is the result of dis- 
union. China's frontier on land and her seaboard are 
each over ten thousand li in extent. It is not to be sup- 
posed that defenses are to be built at every place along 
this line, for not only will our troops and supplies be in- 
sufficient, but this would be a plan without any sense. 
Eailways are wanted to make military operations success- 
ful. With their aid, distances like those of Yunnan, 
Kwei-Ohow, Kansu, and Kuldja, can be accomplished 
in about ten days. The troops garrisoned in the eighteen 
provinces may be converted into an effective active bat- 
talion ; hereafter the number of soldiers may be dimin- 
ished, supplies curtailed, and several regiments converted 
into one effective corps. The army can be summoned at 
one signal, its discipline and power will be concentrated, 
and one soldier made as efficient as ten. This is Jie sec- 



14:0 CEIFA. 

ond advantage that will result from the possession of rail- 
ways, in making military operations more successful. 

" 3. Peking, which may be termed the root of our 
country, is situated in a lonely position in the north of 
China, at a great distance from its center, and is very diffi- 
cult to control, nor can help be afforded in time of trouble. 
During the war which happened in the tenth year of 
Hsien Fung's reign, several statesmen of that day advised 
that the capital be transferred to some more suitable lo- 
cality, but in view of the gravity of the step it was deemed 
undesirable to act precipitately on that advice. More- 
over, every time a quarrel occurs between foreign nations 
and ourselves, they threaten to shatter our capital. If 
railways are constructed, a distance of ten thousand U 
may be considered as at one's very threshold, for it can 
be accomplished in no time, and a hundred million sol- 
diers can be moved to a given place within a few days. 
All parts of the country will be in a condition of pro- 
tection and security, the Government will be peaceable 
and unmoved as a rock, and in case of danger assistance 
will be readily forthcoming. Officials and merchants of 
every province will bef continually traveling to long dis- 
tances by the railway. Merchandise and government 
grain will be transported with surprising rapidity. All 
will be anxious to travel by this route, and to avail them- 
selves of the railway-depot for the storage of their goods. 
In time of peace it can not fail to prosper trade and to 
increase the activity of the multitudes. There will be no 
further necessity to talk of transferring the capital ; 
moreover, the covetous designs of foreign nations will be 
cut short forever, and the foundation of our country 
will become immovable for a hundred centuries. In this 
way our ca|)ital city will be protected, which is the third 
.advantage to be gained by the possession of railways. 

^^4. A few years since, during the disastrous famine 



MEMORIAL OF LI EUNQ-GEANQ. 141 

that raged in the provinces of Shansi and Hon an, the 
price of grain in Shansi rose to the exorbitant rate of 
oyer forty taels * per picnl. Had there been railways to 
convey it, the price could not have exceeded some seven 
taels per picul, including the freight from Tientsin. 
When the country is in possession of railways, if any 
calamity by drought or inundation should happen in any 
of the provinces, relief, in the shape of grain or money, 
can be transported as rapidly as light or sound takes to 
travel, and the lives of many human beings will be 
spared. Moreover, goods will flow easily to all parts of 
the country, and the evils of exorbitant |)rices and en- 
grossing commodities in a market will be avoided. 1*liis 
is the fourth advantage that railways will bring by bene- 
fiting and preserving the lives of the peo|)le. 

''• 5. Since the transportation of the government grain- 
tax was transferred from the junks to be conveyed over 
the sea by steamers, several officials have criticised the step, 
and have ever been anxious that the old custom of con- 
veying it via the G-rand Canal should be re-established, in 
order to forestall the unseen dangers of the sea. When 
railways are constructed, the transportation of the grain 
will flow unobstructed like [the blood in] the arteries of 
the human system, and if on some day the sea-road be 
rendered dangerous by war, there need be no anxiety that 
any obstacle will prevent the whole amount (one million 
piculs) of grain from being transported to its destina- 
tion. Besides this, munitions of war, such as gunpow- 
der, guns, and weapons, and Government taxes [in kind], 
will all be conveyed without the slightest impediment. 
This is the benefit that will result to measures of trans- 
portation, and is the fifth advantage to be gained by the 
possession of railways. 

* A tael is worth about one dollar and thirty-three cents in Mexican 
silver. 



142 CHINA. 

" 6. The speed of railways is ten times that of the 
fleetest horse. Henceforth dispatches can be sent with 
increased rapidity, Government orders and missions for 
purposes of investigation will travel with greater speed 
than is now possible by the post-horses. Exclusive of 
this, letters and parcels will be conveyed rapidly ; soldiers 
sent in pursuit of robbers and malefactors will reach them 
in a day. Some of the Government post-stations on the 
main road might be abolished, and the savings appropri- 
ated to the maintenance of the railway. This is the sixth 
advantage that will result to the postal department of the 
Government. 

''' 7. The coal and iron mines of the empire are all at 
a distance from the water-courses. If railways are used 
in transporting the products of these mines, the cost- 
price will be small, and their sale abundant, and in pro- 
portion as the sales increase the mines will prosper and 
be opened up in large numbers. The expenditure re- 
quired for constructing the railway will be greatly econo- 
mized by using the coal and iron of the mines, and the 
profits that will be derived from their working will be an 
inexhaustible source o:^ supply for the army. Thus, min- 
ing operations will be developed and benefited, and this 
is the seventh advantage that railways will bring. 

"8. It is difficult to carry goods to places that are re- 
mote from the rivers and canals, as it is difficult to bring 
native produce thence. With railways merchandise will 
be conveyed to and from places that are inaccessible to 
steamers, and traffic will be considerably increased. Thus, 
steamers and railways will aid each other mutually in 
transporting goods. This is the eighth advantage that 
will inure to the carrying-trade of the China Merchants' 
Steam Navigation Company. 

"9. When railways are introduced, all classes of trav- 
elers, whether officials, commoners, merchants, or soldiers, 



MEMORIAL OF LI ETINQ-GHANG. 143 

traveling on private or public business, can go to great 
distances with surpassing speed (literally one thousand li) 
in a twinkling. The expenses of the journey will be con- 
siderably reduced in view of the rapidity with which one 
travels, there need be no fear of robbers on the road, 
and the dangers of wind and wave will be avoided. This 
is the ninth advantage that railways will create by im- 
proving the system of traveling in the empire. 

*^ As your servants have shown in the beginning of this 
memorial, the various nations of the West have suddenly 
risen in importance because they have all been careful to 
develop and employ this new invention. It must be re- 
membered, moreover, that the revenue of the state and 
military tactics are considerations of the foremost im- 
portance in planning measures for strengthening the 
country and promoting its prosperity. 

"Your Majesties' confirmation of the purport of Liu 
Ming-Ohu'an's memorial, viz., the recommendation of 
measures that will augment the power of the country, is 
in reality what is meant when he says that he foresees 
the advent of some calamity, and the daily increase of 
our embarrassments, and while expressing his resentment 
at the injustice of foreign nations toward us, desires that 
the energies of the country be immediately roused by the 
promulgation first of our intention to introduce railways, 
and thus cause the insidious designs of Eussia and Japan 
to disappear. 

"The railroads that are urgently needed m China 
are, two lines in the south, one to go from Ohm-kiang, 
through the provinces of Shantung and Ohihli, reaching 
Peking, the other from Hankow, through Honan, to 
Peking ; and two northern lines, one running from Pe- 
king eastward to Peng-t'ien, the other running westward 
to Kansu. These four routes, if constructed, may be 
termed the root and stem of the railway enterprise. If 



144: CHmA. 

branch lines are required to go to places of importance 
distant a few hundred li from the main way, your serv- 
ants believe that they can easily be formed. The dis- 
tances being short, and the necessary expenditure small, 
contributions can be invited from the merchants, who 
will be glad to respond to them. Thus the smaller lines 
will shoot off from the main way like the branches of a 
tree, so as to form a regular network, and there need be 
no anxiety that the railway enterprise will not flourish. 

*^ As, however, the construction of these four lines will 
necessitate an enormous outlay, it will be exceedingly 
difficult to undertake them all at once. The suggestion 
of Liu Ming-Ohu'an, that the line from Chin-kiang to 
Peking be first built in connection with the line of tele- 
graph which your servant, Li Hung-Chang, proposed to 
lay this year is one which, if adopted, will bring two ad- 
vantages, viz., facility in overseeing the line, and unin- 
terrupted means of sending telegrams. If the construc- 
tion first of this line be said to be only a partial benefit 
to the country, considering its condition and require- 
ments, it must be remembered that all the nations of the 
West were similarly eituated fifty years ago, and that it is 
only owing to their determined efforts to construct them 
and push to the front, for fear of being behind, that they 
are able to have the influence which they possess to-day. 
Liu Ming-Chu'an's idea is first to give an example, 
whereby a start may be made. If the enterprise is 
pushed on gradually, there need be no fear that it will 
not some day be in a flourishing condition. 

'* If it be argued by some that after railways are con- 
structed it is to be feared that the road will be used by 
enemies to invade our country, or, again, that as for- 
eigners have long been wishing to build railways in 
China, if she once makes a commencement it may give 
these foreigners reason to become exceedingly imjDortu- 



MEMORIAL OF LI EUNG-GEANQ. 145 

nate ; * it must be said that such objections can only be 
made by those who are ignorant that every nation uses 
its railways in transporting troops to defend the country 
against its enemies. They have never been known to 
serve the purposes of an enemy. This will be made 
plain by remembering that the railway is within our 
territory. Every pass on the frontier being guarded, it 
is not likely that the enemy will find their way through 
some neglected passage. If, by some extraordinary haz- 
ard, a danger like this should happen, one portion of the 
road can be destroyed, and the whole made useless, or if 
the train be kept out of the enemy's hands, the road will 
be of no value without it. Other nations have had no 
reason to be anxious on this point, since railways were 
built some scores of years ago. It is a condition that 
may be likened to the convenience of the man at home, 
and the disadvantage of the stranger abroad. 

" By international law and the treaties, foreign nations 
are prohibited to build railroads in the territory of an- 
other power without the authority of that power. If we 
apprehend that they will rely on their superior strength 
and violate the treaties, and we do not proceed to con- 
struct railways ourselves, will our mere apprehensions 
prevent them from presuming on their strength if they 
desire to do so ? 

" Foreigners are, moreover, constantly advising us how 
to benefit China. If we proceed of our own motion to 
adopt measures that will benefit the country by con- 
structing this important line, it will be enough to cut 
short all further officious advice from them. 

"Again, if objections be made to the railway on the 
score of its interference with the welfare of carters and 



* This fear is never lost sight of by those opposed to the introduction 
of railroads. — J* II. W. 



146 CHINA. 

other classes of laborers, who, it is apprehended, will 
have no way of getting their food and clothing, and that 
disturbances must ineyitably result in consequence of 
these poor people having lost their means of sustenance ;* 
to these objections it must be answered that in England, 
in the early days of the railway, there were similar fears 
that many poor people would be robbed of their means of 
support ; but before long the number of carts and traffic 
generally in the important towns on the line of the rail- 
way became double what it was formerly. Then the 
railway will be on the main road, and can not interfere 
with the villages and little towns in the by-places, which 
will continue as before to use carts and men to transport 
goods and passengers. An increase in the rail way- traffic 
will necessarily produce a corresponding increase in the 
number of carts and carriers. 

" If the railway enterprise reaches a condition of pros- 
perity, it will give work to numbers of men, viz., em- 
ployes to run the train, laborers to make the roads, 
guardsmen to watch the line, carriers to load and unload 
merchandise, and menials to attend on the passengers. 
The monthly allowaHces to these men will amply suffice 
them to support their parents and their families, and if 
any of them have a little surplus means they might open 
an inn, and, with an increase in their business, take 
partners, and, without much effort, have a trade with 
capital and profit. It may, therefore, be reckoned that 
every ten or twenty li of railroad will support and afford 
means of living for not less than some hundred thousand 
men. 

*^ Another way in which numbers of men will be em- 
ployed is in the coal, iron, and other mines, which will 



* This argument is constantly used against the introduction of rail- 
roads.— J. H. W. 



MEMORIAL OF LI EUNG-CHANG. 147 

be opened in large numbers when railways are construct- 
ed. The numbers of poor miners who live by the sweat 
of their brow will be incalculably increased, which is posi- 
tive proof of the benefit that will result to all classes 
of miners. 

" Finally, some may argue that the railway will inter- 
fere with the fields, homes, and graves of the people, and 
that much opposition to it must be expected in conse- 
quence.* These arguments can only be made in ignorance 
of the fact that the government roads are broad, and that 
the permanent way will not require much more than ten 
feet, and therefore can not interfere with the fields, 
homes, and graves of the people. In places where the 
government road is too narrow, a strip of land can be 
bought and paid for liberally ; and if graves do present 
themselves in the way of the line, they can easily be 
avoided by a slight detour. Liu Ming-Ohu'an traveled 
all over the empire while engaged in exterminating the 
rebels in former years, and is thoroughly familiar with 
the condition of the country and the circumstances of 
the inhabitants. 

^' The introduction of railways, however, being a ques- 
tion of paramount importance, it behooves us to examine 
the subject very carefully in the first stages of its man- 
agement to forestall future evils and have a good model 
by which to go in the long run. Your servants have 
been careful to gather much information on this subject, 
and find that the railways constructed by foreigners are 
of various kinds ; some are strong and last a good while ; 
others, again, are less durable and last only a short time. 
Their prices also differ very widely ; one li of road may 
cost a few thousand taels, or it may cost ten thousand 

* This is generally supposed to be the greatest difficulty to be overcome, 
but I do not regard it as at all insuperable. See page 9Y, etseq. — J. H. W. 



148 cnmA. 

taels. As the road from Chin-kiang to Peking is an 
important highway, the line which it is proposed to build 
should be a substantial one, so as to last for a long time. 
Although it is difficult to estimate in advance what 
sum will be required, it is certain that it will not be 
small. 

" The money at the disposal of the Government is very 
limited at the present time. If the funds required for 
constructing the railway be called for from the provinces, 
the provincial officers will not know how to raise the 
money ; or if contribution be invited from merchants, it 
will be difficult to collect them in consequence of the 
wide dispersion of these classes. The proposition of Liu 
Ming-Ohu'an, that a foreign loan be negotiated, is the 
only feasible plan. China has on former occasions fre- 
quently contracted foreign loans, but some officials, fear- 
ing that each province would make this a precedent for 
borrowing money, and become so far involved as to be at 
the mercy of foreign creditors, the Board of Eevenue 
memorialized, and the contraction of foreign loans was 
interdicted. It must be said, however, that a loan for 
starting a large, profitable undertaking and a loan in aid 
of the army are two different things. When railways are 
started, the interest on the loan can be easily repaid by 
the profits of their working, and the Grovernment will 
have gained a lasting source of profit. 

"But there are three things in the contractions of for- 
eign loans that demand great care : 

" 1. As it is to be apprehended that the foreign lend- 
ers will take the direction of the railway into their own 
hands and exclude us from being masters in the business, 
a clause must be inserted, distinctly stating that they may 
not interfere in the matter. TheSnterest of the money 
being guaranteed, and the debt being punctually paid up 
at the specified dates, all matters relating to employing 



MEMORIAL OF LI HUNG -CHANG, 149 

■workmen, purchasing materials, and constructing the 
line, must be left to our management, the foreign credit- 
or being debarred from questioning our actions. If this 
condition be inadmissible, no foreign loan should be 
made. 

" 2. The next fear is that foreigners will strive unlaw- 
fully to get the undertaking into their own hands. To pre- 
vent this, the regulations of the China Merchants' Steam 
Navigation Company, which exclude foreigners from be- 
coming shareholders, will have to be followed. When 
the railway company is formed, its management will be 
in the hands of Chinese merchants, subject, however, to 
the supervision of some government official. Eegula- 
tions should be made, after consultation, providing for 
the repayment of the loan by the said company by in- 
stallments in different years, till the whole amount, in- 
terest and capital, be cleared off. If there should happen 
to be failures in paying up, the government superintend- 
ent will urge payment ; the company will only be allowed 
to mortgage the railway, but not to transfer it into the 
bands of the foreign creditors. The repayment of the 
loan being thus clearly provided for by limitation, all 
malpractices will be cut short. A foreign loan should 
not be contracted unless the foregoing indispensable con- 
dition be complied with. 

'^3. The third danger is, that the finances of the coun- 
try will have to suffer in consequence of the railway loan. 
Hitherto when foreign loans have been negotiated, the 
revenue derived from the maritime customs has always 
been appropriated to repay them. Recently the customs 
establishments have been called upon to meet so many 
demands for money that they are greatly embarrassed.* 

* They are noto in a healthy condition, but there is a great and 
growing indisposition on the part of the Imperial Government to pledge 
the customs revenues for the security of foreign loans. — J. H. W. 



150 cnmA. 

It should be clearly stipulated that the loan will have no 
connection with the customs reyenue. The Groyernment 
will decide in what way the profits to be derived from 
the railway enterprise will be successively appropriated 
toward repaying the debt, which will be cleared off at 
latest within ten or twenty years. No foreign loan 
should be made without this indispensable condition for 
the protection of the finances of the state. 

'' The foregoing three provisos are important consid- 
erations in negotiating a foreign loan. 

'^Your servants have learned that foreigners have 
hitherto been very careful, in making loans, to consider 
what the chances are of recovering their money. If the 
conditions set forth above are rigorously adhered to, it is 
likely they will not be willing to lend ; but if they are, 
then the construction of railways may be proceeded with 
at once. Instead, however, of proceeding to build them 
hastily, regardless of evils which a loan on any condi- 
tion might entail, the business should be deferred to be 
maturely considered, that there be no reason to repent 
of errors. Your servants have also learned that none of 
the railways of other nations have been built without a 
loan. Their mode of procedure is the following : An en- 
gineer of reputation makes a survey of the road, and a 
prospectus is prepared, clearly showing the estimates of 
the undertaking and the probabilities of its success, 
which is a means of amply securing the confidence of 
the people. 

" The road from north to south which it is proposed 
to build in China will, after it has run some time, bring 
considerable profit. When the public company is formed, 
an engineer of intelligence and reputation should be en- 
gaged to make a careful estimate of the undertaking. His 
estimate will be carefully considered by the Tsung-li Ya- 
men and your servants, who will prepare a satisfactory and 



MEMORIAL OF LI HUNG-CHANO. 161 

reliable prospectus, on which some wealthy foreign mer- 
chants might be induced to accommodate us with the loan. 

^' As regards the selecting of materials for construct- 
ing the railway, estimating how many U of the road are 
to be built, hiring laborers economically and at the same 
time to obtain substantial work, all these are matters 
that should be carefully investigated, so that the essential 
parts of the business be not overlooked. 

"A high official should be specially deputed to super- 
intend the management of this business, which includes 
inviting shareholders and raising the loan, measuring the 
land, hiring laborers, etc., etc., and is somiewhat intricate. 
Without this step the busiuess can not be expected to 
work satisfactorily. Your servants beg to state that Liu 
Ming-Ohu'an is a man in the full vigor of life, and pos- 
sesses a bold and resolute nature ; he has gone through 
great hardships in the service of his country, and is very 
desirous to undertake the management of this business, 
since he has seen lately that foreign nations are ill-treat- 
ing us on all sides, and believes that the country's pres- 
ent state of helplessness should be changed for an atti- 
tude of strength. The business, however, being an in- 
novation, its management will be difficult, and it will 
require time before we experience its benefits. If any 
imminent danger were threatening the empire, and tlie 
court were to order Liu Ming-Chu'an to take a com- 
mand, the consideration of this affair would naturally 
have to be postponed, but he is now without any occupa- 
tion, having solicited leave to nurse his health. Should 
this proposition be honored with the sanction of their 
sacred master, and Liu Ming-Chu'an be appointed to 
superintend the management of the railway company, 
your servants would pray that he be ordered, in the first 
place, to make a careful study of the important points in 
this business, and without precipitancy to consult and 



152 cnmA, 

deliberate thereon. Japan and Eussia will be startled to 
hear that, in the midst of all her difficulties, China has 
still strength left to take this step. It will be manifest- 
ing something on which they did not reckon — a truly 
admirable way of first giving the sound and following it 
up with the reality. As Liu Ming-Chu'an is now at 
leisure, he might proceed to invite shareholders and form 
a company to consider the question of a foreign loan ; al- 
though it is hard to say whether or not a large sum can 
be raised, his reputation as a man of loyal merit is more 
likely to enlist the united assistance of men of all classes, 
both foreign and native, than any other official. 

" There are over ten thousand men stationed in the 
garrisons of Chihli and Kiangsu, who served under Liu 
Ming-Ohu'an in former years. In his study of the rail- 
way question, it might appear plain to him that an eco- 
nomical way of proceeding will be to employ the aid of 
these men in constructing the road, and if the contribu- 
tions of native merchants be abundant, the surplus can 
be applied to some other purpose. In each case it will 
be the duty of your servants to consult with him and 
manage the business 'according to the shape it may as- 
sume. The question of introducing railways having been 
thus brought before the Throne by Liu Ming-Chu'an, its 
management from first to last should be intrusted to him. 
If, for any reason, the business be put off ten years, at the 
end of that time he should still be charged with it ; there 
is no other person on whom he could place the responsi- 
bility. Should other and more important calls of duty 
arise after his appointment, he can leave the railway 
business, and, in obedience to the orders of the Throne 
proceed to his new post of duty. 

" When railways are built in China, she must also open 
up her coal and iron mines to prevent her treasure from 
flowing into foreign lands. The coal and iron mines in 



MEMORIAL OF LI EUNG-GEANG. 153 

the neighborhood of Che-chou-fu and Lou-wan-fu, in 
Shansi, are yery rich. It is matter of regret that no 
merchants, with large capital, are to be found to work 
them. If the capital for constructing railways can be 
raised, one tenth of the sum obtained might be employed 
in working the mines after Western methods and with 
foreign machinery, and the coal and iron obtained might 
be used for the railway. Thus the mines will be devel- 
oped and benefited by the railway, and will in turn, 
help to extend the railway enterprise, and the two under- 
takings will bring about a highly desirable result. 

^' Your servants forward, with all dispatch, their me- 
morial in reply, reverently prepared, setting forth the 
considerations relative to railways as a means of augment- 
ing the power of the country, and to the necessity of first 
making a careful study of the question. Prostrate they 
submit their reply to the Throne, and pray Your Majes- 
ties, the Empress-Dowager and the Emperor, to cast 
your sacred glances thereon, and to issue your instruc- 
tions in the premises." 

There is no reason for supposing that either the Vice- 
roy Li, or the Governor-General Liu, has in any way 
changed his opinions upon the important matters dis- 
cussed in the foregoing memorials, but, to the contrary, 
they have both recently reiterated them in personal con- 
versation with me, and both say, clearly and unequivo- 
cally, that they intend to have railroads as soon as they 
can obtain the imperial sanction for them. There is now 
a generous rivalry between them as to who shall first get 
permission. Liu is more remote from Peking, and natu- 
rally feels that he is less likely to be interfered with in 
anything he considers necessary for the defense or devel- 
opment of the Island of Formosa, where he is now serving 
as governor-general ; while Li is almost under the shadow 



154 CHINA. 

of the Throne, and is a statesman of far greater consid- 
eration than his friend. He is patient, adroit, and thor- 
oughly in earnest, and while he is not by nature, so far as a 
foreigner can judge, disposed to make himself obnoxious to 
those in authority over him, or to seriously weaken himself 
by running counter either to their prejudices or to the 
well-established customs of the country, he thoroughly 
understands the arts of a courtier, as well as those of a 
statesman, and if he liyes will surely silence the opposition 
and secure the imperial approval of his policy. Gradually 
throwing aside the principles of rigid conservatism which 
is the essence of Chinese philosophy and state-craft, he has 
put himself squarely at the head of the progressive move- 
ment. He has never for a moment tried to delude himself 
or others into the belief that the Western nations are 
barbarians, and their arts valueless. He has been too long 
and too intimately associated with foreigners to look down 
upon them with contempt, or even to treat them with dis- 
courtesy. He impresses me as a calm, far-sighted, and 
enlightened statesman, who, without having a technical 
understanding of W^tern arts and sciences, knows their 
vast superiority to any that the Chinese have, and does 
not fear to say so whenever occasion requires it. And 
yet it must not be forgotten that neither he nor any 
other subject of the Emperor will dare run counter to his 
wishes, or take any aggressive action in so grave a matter, 
without the express authority of the Throne. 

The Viceroy Li has already had one great accession to 
his party, if I may use the word in writing of a country 
where no such thing as party is known, or can be known 
for many years. I refer, of course, to the conversion of 
the late Tso Tsung-tang, who had always been opposed to 
foreigners and foreign methods in everything. He was a 
great scholar, and also a great soldier. Throughout a long 
and useful career he was a bold, resolute, and outspoken 



DYING MEMORIAL OF TSO TSUNG-TANG. 155 

adviser of the Throne, and was always a hero and favorite 
with the conservatives. He had military talents of a high 
order, and is thought by many to have been the greatest 
Chinese general of modern times (as Li is indubitably the 
greatest statesman), but he never undertook to disguise his 
fierce contempt for the "Western barbarians." He used 
Krupp guns and improved small-arms in his Turkistan 
campaigns, but would never admit that he needed any 
one to show him how to use them. He was a firm be- 
liever in the Chinese system, and, although in some de- 
gree a recluse, he did not fail to keep himself informed 
of what progress was promising to do for his country. He 
died, full of years and honors, just before I reached China, 
leaving Li with no living rival to dispute his supremacy 
either in war or statesmanship, and paying the highest 
possible tribute, in his dying memorial to the throne, to 
the superior wisdom of the great Chinese liberal leader. 

This document, which was evidently prepared with 
the last remnant of the writer's strength, and is a most 
touching and patriotic appeal to the Throne, was trans- 
lated for the '^ North China Herald " of October 7, 1885, 
It runs as follows : 

'' May it please Your Majesties ! Your Majesties' gra- 
cious favor unrequited. Your servant sick, unto death, 
utters these valedictory words, and implores that the sa- 
cred glance may deign to rest thereon. 

" Your servant, finding his bodily ailments increasing 
daily, besought an extension of furlough, for the purpose 
of restoring his health. This was granted him on the 
25th of the seventh moon, and he prepared forthwith a me- 
morial of thanks, at the same time handing over to Yang 
Chang-Chun his imperial commissioner's seal, and the 
business connected with the various military departments 
under his control. Then he would have started upon his 



156 CHINA. 

homeward journey^ but, within a couple of days or so, se- 
Yere pains in the loins came on, making it troublesome 
for him either to sit or stand. His hands and feet were 
numbed ; hot phlegm rose in his throat ; he knew that 
the end was come ! 

^'^ Your servant, a poor scholar of books, first attract- 
ed the attention of His Grracious Majesty the Emperor 
Hsien-Feng, and has held important posts under three 
successiye reigns. He has assisted at the deliberations of 
the Privy Council; he has been commander-in-chief of 
the army. And, were his corpse to be rolled into a 
horse's skin, he could not complain that he had not re- 
ceived his due. But now, when peace or war in Anam 
means the weakness or strength of China, and when your 
servant, traveling southward, has to this date not once 
engaged in conflict with the foe, and made manifest the 
might of our arms, he feels a grief in life that will pre- 
vent his closing his eyes in death. 

'^ Overwhelmed with imperial kindness, it is but a year 
since your servant took leave of Your Majesties. And 
now he can never again set eyes upon the divine counte- 
nance, but must wait until, as a dog or a horse, he may 
discharge his debt in the life to come. Now he is but a 
bird that sings a sadder strain as death draws near. 

^^At present, when peace has just been made in the 
regions of the west (Anam), Japan is seeking to thrust 
herself upon us, and the various nations of the earth 
watch round us like glaring beasts. Unless we make a 
great and united effort to close the stable ere the steed be 
gODe ; unless we keep our mugwort * on hand ready for 
use, in the event of further trouble, we shall become 
weaker and weaker, and less able to make an effort, until 
at length we shall not even be able to attain the point at 
which we are to-day. 

* For purposes of cauterization. 



DYING MEMORIAL OF T80 T8UNG-TANG. 157 

'* Therefore, let Your Majesties, out of the delibera- 
tions of the high offices on the matter of the coast-defense, 
come rapidly to a decision. Let railways and mines and 
the construction of ships and guns be undertaken at 
once, as a means of insuring our national prosperity and 
strength. At the same time, as understanding is at the 
root of all undertakings, let Your Majesty the Emperor 
attend with, more and more diligence to the study of our 
sacred books. Be not remiss even in the smallest matter. 
Daily associate with men of principle, and listen to their 
counsels. Take what is not absolutely necessary to be 
spent at the moment, and apply it to the wants of na- 
tional defense. Be sparing in every-day life, that there 
may be a fund for circumstances unforeseen. Let the 
Emperor and his ministers strive with one accord in 
what is right, to procure what is right, and your serv- 
ant will seem in the day of Ms death to be born again 
into life. 

*^ With gasping breath and flowing tears your servant 
humbly speaks these words, which are copied down to be 
submitted to careful consideration under Your Majesty's 
mirror-like glance." 

I have not been able to learn that any official action 
has been predicated exclusively upon this remarkable 
memorial, but there is abundant evidence that it has 
made a profound impression upon the literary and official 
class throughout the empire, as well as upon the foreign- 
ers residing within its borders. The simple fact that it 
was not suppressed by the Empress-Dowager would alone 
go to prove that she is not inimical to the introduction 
of railroads, were there no other evidence in existence ; 
but it is now well known that she approves them, and 
has expressed herself in favor of their early construc- 
tion. In China, as in every other country, the Throne 



158 CHINA. 

has its courtiers and attendants, who are loud in the 
declaration that it can do no wrong, and is the unfailing 
source of wisdom and yirtue. But until it speaks in an 
authoritative manner, which it has not yet done, the ut- 
terances of such men as Li and Tso, however great their 
wisdom or exalted their patriotism, can do no more than 
familiarize the official class with the great ideas which 
underlie modern progress. The adherence of so great and 
conservative a statesman as Tso Tsung-tang to these 
ideas, although he limits their application to the national 
defense, is a great event, and may well be considered 
the sure precursor of a wide-spread though still tardy 
acceptance of the policy which they foreshadow. In 
every line of the dying memorial the surrender of life- 
long prejudices is written. Sadly and pathetically the 
^^poor scholar of books" confesses that Chinese learning 
and Chinese arts, whether of peace or war, are alike un- 
able to save China from conquest and dismemberment, 
and implores his imperial master to "let railways, and 
mines, and the construction of ships and guns be under- 
taken." This is the very essence of progress and the 
death-knell of conservatism, and indorsing, as it does, 
the memorial of the Viceroy Li, it has done more to in- 
crease his influence and popularity than any event which 
has happened for years. If it leads to the construction 
of the initial railroad, it will prove indeed the inaugura- 
tion of the golden age of China, and will speedily render 
her invincible to the rest of the world. Withal, it will 
be the Viceroy's chiefest glory that he has become her 
greatest benefactor as well as her greatest soldier and 
statesman. 

It must be added, however, that notwithstanding the 
sound arguments contained in the foregoing remarkable 
memorials, the ignorant and conservative censors are 
far from yielding. They still oppose all progress, and 



DYING MEMORIAL OF T80 TSUNG-TANG. 159 

especially the introduction of railroads, by all the means 
in their power, and, having the right of memorializing 
the Throne at all times, they resort to it whenever occa- 
sion offers. So far they have been able to frustrate all 
the plans of Li Hung-Chang in respect to this most im- 
portant matter. 



CHAPTEE XL 

Visit to Peking — The unspeakably filthy city of the world — Its origin 
and characteristics — No suburbs or villas — Streets not paved — The 
foreign legations and society — ^Non-intercourse between court and 
diplomatic corps — The young Emperor — The Empress-Dowager — Her 
unlimited power — The censors — The Emperor worships at the tomb 
of his ancestors — The influences which control him — He can hardly 
become a conservative — The difficulties of his situation — Unprepared 
for a foreign war. 

Oe course, no foreigner visits ISTorthern China without 
going to Peking, and ultimately to the Great Wall, and 
I am no exception to the rule. The distance from Tient- 
sin to Peking is eighty miles ; the wall lies about forty- 
five miles farther north, and the journey may be made in 
either of three ways. The most common and perhaps 
the most comfortable way, for Europeans, is by house- 
boat, a sort of scow, about thirty feet long and six feet 
wide, with a small house built in the middle for the 
protection of the occupant. The boat is propelled by 
sails, poles, or by the old-fashioned method known in 
America as the cordelle, and generally goes no farther 
than Tung-chow, a city fifteen miles from Peking, on the 
west bank of the Tientsin Eiver (the northern branch of 
the Pei-ho), where the Grand Canal leaves it. Another way 
is by cart, and the Peking cart is an institution peculiar 
to North China. It is an exceedingly rude, springless 
vehicle, which fairly illustrates at the same time the con- 



PEEIRG TEE TIN 8F EAR ABLY FILTRY CITY, 161 

dition of the mechanic arts and of transportation in China. 
It looks like a large Saratoga trunk on a pair of baggage- 
skids, balanced on a pair of wheels, and drawn by two 
mules driyen tandem. And, finally, one may go on the 
back of a pony, breaking the journey into two stages, and 
riding the same pony all the way through, or by a relay of 
ponies, which enables one to make the trip in a single day. 

I chose the third method, as the one requiring the 
least preparation, but sent my baggage and servant 
through by cart. The country is absolutely level, devoid 
of trees, and uninteresting, but it is under the closest 
cultivation. The road is distinct enough for about ten 
miles, throughout which it occupies the river-embank- 
ment, but for the most of the distance it wanders about in 
a very indefinite and uncertain way. It shows no evidence 
whatever of having ever been laid out or worked, and it 
certainly has never been paved or macadamized. As there 
are no fences, hedges, or ditches about the farms, and no 
farm-houses, there is nothing to designate even the gen- 
eral direction except the telegraph-poles, and as they oc- 
cupy the river-embankment, which is very crooked, one 
would have to travel much farther than necessary if he 
followed them. As a consequence, a foreigner who goes 
horseback requires a guide, and should be sure before 
starting that his mafoo, or horse-boy, knows the way and 
the stopping-places. I have made the trip several times, 
and was never over twenty-four hours on the road. 

Peking is the unspeakably filthy place of the world. 
It is dirtier than Constantinople, and, although it is the 
capital, it is even nastier than any other Chinese city, and 
nothing worse can be said of it. I^o correct census has 
ever been taken, but it is claimed that it contains a pop- 
ulation of a million souls. It is surrounded by a stately 
gray brick wall, forty-five feet high, surmounted by a cren- 
elated parapet with flanking towers at proper intervals. 



162 CEmA. 

It is penetrated by arched gateways, and encircled by a 
moat which constitutes the beginning and the end of the 
Grand Canal. 

Its origin is lost to history, bnt it is evident that it 
was selected as a central point from which to defend the 
northern frontier. It is practically a fortified camp, and 
has never been anything else. Here, in the olden days, 
were gathered the forces which were expected to defend 
the Great Plain from the ravages of the Tartars, and 
hence it was against this point that they directed their 
first attacks. Having captured it under the Great Khan 
in 1264 A. D., and probably many times before, they 
made it their own capital, not only because it gave them 
a safe base for further operations, but also because it cov- 
ers the road which leads back into the fastnesses of Mon- 
golia. It was visited by Marco Polo during the reign of 
Kublai, and called by him Kambaluc, or Khan-baligh, 
that is to say, the City of the Khan. It had already had 
many other names, and gone through many vicissitudes. 
After remaining the capital throughout the reign of 
Kublai's descendants, it was wrested from their weak 
and enfeebled hands by Hung Wu, the great Chinese sol- 
dier, who drove out the conquerors, and founded the 
strictly Chinese dynasty of the Mings. He, however, re- 
stored the capital to the much more eligible city of Nan- 
king, where it remained till his son, Yung-loh, established 
it again at Peking. The descendants of the latter held it 
till 1644, when it was captured by the Manchus, and has 
ever since been retained by them as the seat of their 
dynasty and the capital of the whole empire. It is di- 
vided into three parts, the Chinese City, the Tartar City, 
and the "Carnation Prohibited City," commonly called 
the "Forbidden City," because it is inhabited by the 
Emperor and his court, and Europeans are excluded there- 
from. The parts are divided from each other by separate 



FEEING THE UNSPEAKABLY FILTHY CITY. 163 

inclosures or cross-walls, and while they are well laid out 
in broad, straight streets, crossing each other at right 
angles, they are equally dirty and uninviting. There are 
no sewers and no police regulations. Dirt and dilapida- 
tion reign supreme, and, what is worse, the people seem 
to live almost in a state of nature, and to have no 
sense of shame or decency. It is claimed that Peking 
was much larger and finer than now, during the reigns 
of Yung-loll and Kien-Lung, but this may well be 
doubted. There is abundant evidence that some of the 
roads entering it, notably those from Kalgan and Tung- 
chow, were once paved with large slabs of granite, and. 
kept in passable condition, but they have long since 
fallen into dilapidation and disuse. Like everything else 
in China, they seem to have been stricken by decrepitude. 
The houses, yamens, and compounds are generally built 
of fire-burned brick, but here, as elsewhere, disorder 
reigns supreme, and no one ever thinks of repairing or 
cleaning anything. Eoads, city walls, temples, houses, 
and streets alike, betoken an inefiicient administration. 
Dust and dirt give a dingy appearance even to the highly 
glazed yellow and green tiles, which cover the pavilions 
of the Forbidden City. The palaces, if such a word can 
be appropriately used, are of gray brick, but only one 
story high, and there is every reason for supposing they 
are as open, draughty, and uncomfortable as if they were 
the residence of ordinary, well-to-do Chinamen, instead 
of the Emperor, the Empress-Dowager, and their im- 
mediate family and dependents. 

Peking is peculiar in having no surrounding villas nor 
pretty suburbs. It stands solitary and alone within its 
massive walls, on a wide expanse of cultivated plain, like 
an island in the sea, frequently buried in clouds of dust, 
like banks of fog ; withal it is an interesting place, and as 
the capital of a far-reaching empire it is visited by many 



164 CEmA. 

curious people. Its streets are filled by hurrying crowds 
of oflficials, soldiers, and common Chinese, and present to 
the European many strange if not inyiting sights and 
sounds. Here camels are first seen in large caravans, 
transporting Mongolian products to market, and return- 
ing laden with tea, cloth, and other manufactured arti- 
cles, suited to the wants of the Tartars living beyond the 
Great Wall. They also carry all the coal used in Peking 
from the Western Hills, a few miles away. Mongolians, 
Thibetans, and Coreans abound, and all seem to be civil 
and well-behaved. It is plain to see, whatever outsiders 
may say, that these people, one and all, are proud of their 
capital, and regard themselves as fortunate in being the 
subjects of the Chinese Emperor. 

Mud and dust in their turn render communication 
exceedingly disagreeable if not difficult. The streets are 
unpaved, and there are no sidewalks. Of course there 
are no street-railways, nor gas-mains, nor water-pipes, but 
they are all sadly needed, and there can be but little 
doubt that the first of them would pay a handsome re- 
turn on the capital invested from the start. 

Peking being an inland city, and not a treaty port, 
has no foreign settlement in or near it ; neither foreign 
merchants nor bankers are permitted to reside nor even 
to visit there without a passport, which must be arranged 
for through the consul at Tientsin. Foreign ministers 
and attaches live in legations, generally belonging to 
their own governments. They are all situated on one 
street close to each other, and each is surrounded by its 
own high brick wall or compound. The street connect- 
ing them is broad but unpaved, and dirty like the rest. 
The legations have no control over it, but a movement 
has been set on foot to secure its cession to them for po- 
lice and sanitary purposes. There is no hotel open to for- 
eigners, but the merchant who is allowed to live near the 



THE FOREIGN SOCIETY OF PEKING. 165 

legations for the purpose of supplying them with foreign 
goods, also entertains such strangers as can not for any 
reason secure the shelter of their own legation or of some 
member of the maritime customs department, which also 
has its headquarters here, and the principal officers of 
which are foreigners, with the able and accomplished Sir 
Eobert Hart at their head. 

The foreign society at Peking, composed as it is en- 
tirely of diplomatic and customs officers, and of the foreign 
professors in the Tung-wen College and their families, is 
most attractive and charming.* It leads a gay and happy 
life ; tiffin, riding, and dancing parties follow each other 
in rapid succession during the winter season, and in the 
summer most of the families retire to the hills, where 
they live in Buddhist temples hired for the purpose. 

The diplomatic corps have no relations with the Em- 
peror, the Empress-Dowager, or the court, and never see any 
one connected with them, except the prince and ministers 
of the Tsung-li Yamen, or Board of Foreign Affairs. This 
board is a modern one, and has no administrative or inde- 
pendent powers. Its sole duty is to receive and enter- 
tain the foreign ministers and such distinguished stran- 
gers as may be presented by them, and to forward to the 
Throne, or to the appropriate boards, such communica- 
tions as may be lodged with it. In view of the fact that 
none of the members of the board (except the Marquis 
Tseng, who has recently returned from Europe) under- 
stand English or any other foreign language, and none of 
the foreign ministers understand Chinese, all conversation 
must be carried on through the intervention of official 
interpreters, and to prevent mistakes all official commu- 
nications must be in writing, translated into the court 

* There are quite a large number of missionaries residing at Peking, 
but here as well as elsewhere there is but little social intercourse be- 
tween them and the diplomatic corps or other foreign officials. 



166 CEINA. 

dialect, or literary language of the country. As this lan- 
guage is an almost insuperable obstacle to the general 
dissemination of Western knowledge, and as there is no 
social intercourse whateyer between foreigners and the 
conseryatiye Chinese officials, or their families, it will 
readily be seen that there can not be a yery actiye inter- 
change of ideas between them. 

Now that the young Emperor, Kwang Hsu, has as- 
sumed personal direction of affairs, one of the first duties 
required of him under the treaties will be to receiye the 
foreign ministers accredited to his Goyernment ; and this 
may mark an epoch in the history of China, inasmuch as 
it may lead to the breaking down of that exclusiyeness 
which has hitherto so effectually shut out modern ideas. 
His predecessor, Tung Chi, gaye audience to the foreign 
ministers only once, and the regulation of the details, 
and especially the omission of the kotow, which the for- 
eigners insisted upon, gaye rise to protracted and deliber- 
ate negotiation, much of which, of course, will haye to 
be gone through with again. The present Emperor was 
born August 15, 1871, and, counting him a year old at 
birth, according to ClTiinese custom, is not yet seyenteen. 
His personal name is Tsaitien, but he is officially desig- 
nated as Kwang Hsu, which is really the title of his reign. 
He is the ninth of the Manchu or Tsing dynasty ; and 
Tsing, which means pure, was chosen by the founder of 
the dynasty to indicate the purity and justice with 
which he and his descendants proposed to administer 
the affairs of the empire which they had captured. The 
surname of this family is Gioro, or Golden, after Aisin 
Gioro, a braye and aggressiye but petty Manchurian chief, 
who was its progenitor, and whose great descendant, Hien- 
tsu, actually led its followers to the conquest of Peking, 
about the beginning of the seyenteenth century. Kwang 
Hsu is not the son, but the first cousin, of the late Em- 



THE YOUNG EMPEROR KWANG ESU, 167 

peror, Tung Chi, who died without issue shortly after he 
had ascended the throne. A council of princes, led by 
the mother of the deceased Emperor, who was Empress- 
Dowager during his nonage, and her sister, who was also 
a wife of the Emperor Hienfung, and consequently the 
aunt of Kwang Hsu, adopted him as heir to the throne. 
He is the son of Prince Chun, seventh brother of the 
Emperor Hienfung, and hence commonly designated as 
the Seventh Prince. Exactly why or how the son of the 
latter was selected, instead of some other of the same 
generation, is not clearly understood by outsiders ; but 
when it is remembered that the Chinese Emperor has 
always exercised the right of designating which of his 
sons should succeed him, in spite of primogeniture, and 
that if a man, as head of a family, has no son of his own 
body, he may adopt one, it will be seen how the Empresses- 
Dowager, in the exercise of a similar right, may have been 
able to control the family council in behalf of their own 
favorite. At all events, the selection was made and ac- 
quiesced in, and the little boy (who may have been the 
oldest of his generation) was duly installed on January 
12, 1875, as heir to the throne. It is true that a cabal 
within the impei'ial clan undertook to control the Em- 
presses-Dowager and the young Emperor, and through 
them the administration of the Government, but this was 
promptly frustrated by the Empresses, aided by Prince 
Kung, the eldest surviving brother of the Emperor Hien- 
fung, and also by Prince Chun, the young Emperor's 
father. The two sisters, as co-regents, carried on the gov- 
ernment with unusual vigor and success till the 4th of 
April, 1881, at which time the first one, commonly called 
the "Empress of the Eastern Palace," died, leaving the 
sole power in the hands of her sister, Tz'-u Hsi, ^^ Empress 
of the Western Palace," and the present Empress-Dowager. 
The latter is a woman of strong character, and it is asserted 



168 cnmA. 

by the best-informed foreigners in Peking has proved 
herself to be the ablest ruler of China since the days 
of Kienlung, whose reign was one of the longest of 
modern times- She is fifty-three years of age, and is 
said to give the closest personal attention to public busi- 
ness. She has never seen or been seen by a foreign offi- 
cial, and, so far as known, takes no notice or account of 
their doings, and yet she is supposed to be a liberal, or 
to incline toward liberalism and progress in her ideas. 
She has seen the entire country restored to peace and 
comparative prosperity under her rule, ^nd her dominion 
at the surrender of it to her ward on the 5th of February, 
1887, was undisputed to the very outermost limits of the 
empire. As the mother or guardian of the young Em- 
peror, she has looked carefully after his welfare according 
to her lights, but, so far as known, no ray of Western 
learning has been extended to him. He has no Western 
teachers, nor is it likely that any of his Chinese tutors have 
ever studied Western science or languages. His instruc- 
tion is therefore exclusively in the Chinese language and 
literature, and probably extends no further than to the 
teachings of the great sages and philosophers. Of course, 
in a country where everything is regulated by custom and 
a code, all the details of his daily occupation are strictly 
laid out and conducted; but, after all, it is only Chinese, 
and can lead, without foreign aid or influence, to nothing 
but Chinese results in the end. 

The Empress-Dowager is said to be well educated 
according to the Chinese system ; but, inasmuch as even 
the princes and great dignitaries of the empire have not 
been permitted to see her familiarly, or communicate 
freely with her, she has been left largely to the guidance 
of the great boards of Government in the transaction of 
public business. During her regency she has been for all 
practical purposes an absolute monarch, but, according to 



INFLUENCES WHICH CONTROL THE EMPEROR. 169 

the theory of the Chinese Constitution — if I may use the 
word where the thing itself has not yet passed beyond the 
rudimentary stage — she was compelled to govern accord- 
ing to precedent and the principles of the code. The 
censors may remonstrate and the grand secretaries and 
the boards may '^advise and consent," but, after all, there 
is no earthly power which could control her against her 
will when she had once made up her mind. The process 
of making up her mind was therefore of the greatest im- 
portance, especially in connection with new matters, or 
such as do not come within the range of precedent or of 
the code. 

Like all human beings, the occupant of the Chinese 
throne is more or less under the influence of the people 
who immediately surround his person and minister to 
his wants, and these are of course servants of one grade 
or another. They can unconsciously give his mind a 
bias or twist, no matter how self-poised or independent 
he may be ; and when it is remembered that they are 
also strictl}" Chinese, and that many of them belong to an 
unfortunate class peculiar to Oriental countries, it will be 
seen that he is much more likely to be influenced by ig- 
norance and prejudice than by enlightened and progres- 
sive ideas. Under such influences, he would naturally 
be inclined to let well enough alone, and to set his face 
against change ; and so, if change comes, it must be un- 
der the pressure of some force great enough to break 
down the opposition of the ignorant and unfortunate, 
and command attention, whether the case in hand comes 
within the ordinary rules or not. Under the pressure of 
war or some great emergency, or in the face of some great 
public necessity, the voice of the statesman, even though 
he be but ^^a poor scholar of books," may penetrate to 
the innerntost recesses of the palace ; but, even when in- 
vited, he may not speak except when lying prostrate in 
9 



170 CEINA. 

"the divine presence." The common method of advis- 
ing the Throne is by memorial^ which must be most care- 
fully expressed in the classic literary style ; and I have 
been told that no verbal explanations may be offered, ex- 
cept in response to a direct question from His Majesty. 
The '^Peking Gazette" is full of cases where the memori- 
alist has been reprimanded, or handed over to the Board 
of Punishments for the determination of a proper penalty 
for the use of a careless or inelegant word or phrase. 

Theoretically the censors, whose functions I will ex- 
plain more fully hereafter, may memorialize the Throne, 
either affirmatively or negatively, upon any subject, and 
the memorial must go upon the record, and even the offi- 
cial historiographer may comment as he chooses upon the 
acts of the Emperor ; but both must be careful to adhere 
closely to the truth, and to guard their language and 
motives against the charge of impertinence, misrepresen- 
tation, and malice. Practically the post of censor is a 
dangerous as well as a powerful one. Only last year a 
new decree was issued enlarging upon the duties of cen- 
sors, encouraging them to make suggestions freely and 
loyally, and to be gifided by "^^ considerations of time and 
circumstance in what they say"; but to *^ avoid every- 
thing like bias or private prejudice." It also admonished 
them that "to offer improper suggestions to the Throne 
from motives of private animosity, and to vilify and abuse 
the object of attack at will," is not only irreverent to the 
Emperor, but injurious both to morals and good govern- 
ment. After quoting several decrees issued in past reigns 
severely condemning " the practice of indulging in slan- 
derous accusations based upon private spite," the decree 
gives emphasis to the policy laid down m it by ordering 
that a censor who had the year before called one of the 
grand secretaries "a traitor to his country," "^nd a histo- 
riographer of the Han Lin College, who had attacked the 



THE EMPRES^DOWAGER. Vl\ 

Grand Secretary Li Hung-Ohang " on varions counts, and 
m involyed and ornate language had hinted that he ought 
to be put to death, to be both of them committed to the 
board for the determination of a se^^ere penalty, as an ex- 
ample to others who would carry vilification of ministers 
in high place to such extreme limits/' 

Although the Empress-Dowager has been for so many 
years the absolute head of the Government, and must al- 
ways, because of the potential influence she has exerted 
in the selection of Kwang Hsu as heir to the throne, wield 
a great if not controlling influence over him, if she is so 
disposed, the laws and customs of the country require 
that she shall retire from all public participation in the 
business of the Government after turning it over to the 
personal charge of the heir, which, as before stated, she 
did on the 5th of February of the current year. As 
mother of the adolescent Emperor, she had a most im- 
portant duty to perform for him, and that was to select 
his wife or wives, conduct the wedding ceremonies, and 
to see that he worships at the tomb of his ancestors both 
before and after marriage. 

This religious duty was duly performed in the early 
spring of last year, at which time the young Emperor, 
accompanied by the Empress-Dowager ; his father, the 
Seventh Prince ; the Viceroy, Li Hung-Chang ; and many 
of the grand dignitaries and members of the imperial clan, 
made his pilgrimage in state to the Eastern Tombs, and 
went successfully and, it is to be presumed, reverently 
through the solemn ceremony which had been arranged 
for the occasion. A new road something over a hundred 
miles long, with proper pavilions and stopping-places, had 
been built beforehand, and every effort known to the Chi- 
nese was resorted to for the purpose of making the proces- 
sion imposing. The Emperor and the Empress-Dowager 
were carried in sedan-chairs, and were escorted by soldiers 



172 CHIRA. 

and retainers all clad in their best ; but withal the pageant 
was described as disappointing. The trappings and out- 
fit were neither new nor fresh-looking, and as the column 
moved before daylight, and every precaution was taken 
to keep the streets and roads near its line of march clear 
of spectators, and especially of foreigners, none of the lat- 
ter, except one who occupied a place of concealment in a 
Chinese house, obtained a sight of the procession. The 
spring rains had not yet begun, and the road, although 
quite new, and of course unused by profane feet, was 
very dusty. It was sprinkled by an advanced guard of 
soldiers, each of whom was equipped with a small wicker 
scoop or basket, painted pink, and which he used for dip- 
ping water from the ditches alongside. 

It was of course impossible for any foreigner to wit- 
ness the ceremony at the tombs, though it probably con- 
sisted of nothing more than the burning of incense, to- 
gether with gold and silver paper representing money. 
The young Emperor doubtless prostrated himself, and 
knocked his head against the floor or ground in front of 
the tomb of the late Emperor, as any other young China- 
man would have done before the tomb of his father ; and 
this may have been repeated before the various tombs of 
the dynasty, back to that of its founder if buried there. 
So far as I have seen or can learn, the ceremony, whether 
performed by Emperor or coolie, is a perfunctory one, and 
generally entered into in obedience to a time-honored 
custom rather than to the dictates of a deep religious 
feeling. 

The young Emperor is described by one who claims to 
have got a good look at him as a rather frail, sallow, and 
undersized youth, showing no external signs of extraor- 
dinary vitality or ability. The Chinese say it is understood 
among them that he is petulant and unsteady in his tem- 
per, and shows but little persistency in his studies. The 



TEEEMFEROB WORSHIPS AT EASTERN TOMBS, 173 

chances are that lie has neither the mental nor physical 
constitution of a reformer. His father is, however, a 
man of resolution and vigor, and will necessarily be an 
important factor in the control of affairs, although he, 
too, as well as the Empress-Dowager, will have to retire 
from the court when the young Emperor assumes per- 
sonal charge of the Government. This is necessary, be- 
cause the law and custom of the country are such that no 
subject can approach the Emperor without prostrating 
himself, while the higher law of the land requires that 
children, whether actual or adopted, shall bow down be- 
fore their parents. It was said, however, that the Empress- 
Dowager might issue a decree before retiring, giving herself 
and the Seventh Prince a dispensation against the strict 
letter of the law, and authorizing them, in view of his 
youth and inexperience, to have audience with the Em- 
peror on public and family affairs without going through 
the Icotoiu in his presence. While this may seem quite 
simple to foreigners, it is really a very serious and com- 
plex matter to the Chinese. It must be borne in miild 
that the direct male line of the present dynasty has never 
before failed, and it has been on the throne nearly three 
hundred years. Precedents are therefore very old and 
scarce, and it is possible that there are none at all. So 
far as foreigners know, the laws may be silent in reference 
to such a case. At all events, even the most learned Chi- 
nese did not speak with any confidence as to what would 
be done in the emergency which they have just passed 
through. So far as I have been able to learn, no such 
dispensation has been issued, and it is now suggested that 
an able counselor may be obtained, and a part of the 
difficulty removed, by the restoration of Prince Kung, 
the senior uncle of the Emperor, to favor. He is an ex- 
perienced and progressive statesman, and his influence can 
hardly prove to be anything but beneficial to the empire. 



174 CEUTA. 

But one thing seems to be entirely clear, and that is, 
that the Empress-Dowager will remain a very important 
factor in Government affairs during the rest of her life. 
Having conducted the young Emperor safely to the East- 
ern Tombs and back, and, it is said, selected her favorite 
niece, the daughter of her brother the Duke Ohow, for his 
first wife, it is evident that she does not intend to leave 
the young couple entirely to their own resources. As his 
mother by adoption, it is her right and duty to select such 
other wives from time to time as she may think the Em- 
peror ought to have, and it is certain she has had many of 
the eligible young women of the country sent to Peking 
for her inspection. These are, of course, only the daugh- 
ters of the grandees and of the members of the imperial 
clan. So, no matter what restrictions there may be upon 
free intercourse between her and the Throne hereafter, it 
will readily be seen that the person who selects its occu- 
pant, and the wife who alone can sit beside him or ap- 
proach his person without prostrating herself, must always 
remain a very considerable personage. 

It is possible, of course, that the young Emperor and 
his wife or wives may develop such independent character 
as to throw off all family domination, and thus get rid of 
both father and aunt at the same time, but this is hardly 
to be expected. Human nature must, after all, be the 
same in the Chinese imperial family as elsewhere, and 
hence, notwithstanding the restriction of laws and cus- 
toms, it may fairly be assumed that both the Empress- 
Dowager and the Seventh Prince will continue, for many 
years, to play an important if not a principal part in the 
conduct of the Chinese Grovernment. The Empress- 
Dowager has been practically head of the G-overnment 
for over twenty years, and the Seventh Prince, as father 
and tutor of the young Emperor, has held a position 
scarcely less important. As titular head of naval affairs. 



TEE EMPER0E8 UNUSUAL OPPORTUmTIES. 175 

Le made his first visit to Tientsin and to the fleet in the 
Gulf of Pechihli last spring. During this visit, he not 
only saw foreign-built ships and guns for the first time, 
but personally granted audience to foreign consuls and 
dignitaries themselves, all of whom he received with 
courtesy, and impressed as being a man of liberal senti- 
ments and fine natural abilities. 

Finally, it is understood among Chinese and foreign- 
ers that both the Empress-Dowager and the Seventh 
Prince are in favor of progress, and especially of railroads, 
mines, furnaces, and rolling-mills, as well as of tele- 
graphs, foreign-built ships, and guns, and of foreign in- 
struction in their use. 

This being the case, the young Emperor can hardly 
become a conservative, and turn back the hands of time, 
however great may be the opposition of the older men. 
China must move forward, and, whatever may be the natu- 
ral bent of the young Emperor and his surroundings, he 
and they must move with her ; but how it w^ill all turn 
out, with special reference to him, the world can tell much 
better after he has occupied the throne for several years, 
and reached actual as well as legal manhood. With the 
tremendous power and influence wielded by him, by vir- 
tue of the system of which he is the center, he can great- 
ly retard as well as facilitate the development of his coun- 
try's power and resources. He will have unusual oppor- 
tunities for signalizing his reign. He finds the empire 
united and at peace from the center to the remotest 
boundary, as well as with all outside nations ; but it is 
also closely watched and crowded on all sides by Eus- 
sia, England, and France, and likely at any time to be- 
come engaged in war with either of them. Germany is 
also alert and aggressive. She is sending out her syndi- 
cates and engineers to build railroads and her merchants 
to secure trade, and will not be slow to find a casus helli if 



176 CEmA. 

she wants one. Each of the great powers named is keenly- 
alive to the fact that the trade and the internal improve- 
ments of a country comprising one tenth of the habitable 
globe, and containing from one fifth to one third of all the 
people in the world, is a tremendous prize, and that no 
sacrifice or exertion is too great to make for it. They are 
all represented by able and experienced diplomatists, who 
not only watch one another, but watch and report every- 
thing going on within the empire. Not a ship or a gun 
is bought, but all compete for it. ]N'ot a military or 
naval review is held, but their attaches are present to 
witness it ; and not a stranger arrives at the capital, or 
even at a treaty port, but they endeavor to discover his 
business, and, if need be, to frustrate it. 

In the midst of all this contention, watchfulness, and 
distrust, the young Emperor and his advisers will have a 
difficult task to maintain their country's rights and to 
keep the peace ; they will require not only great diplo- 
matic skill and knowledge, but a great show of organiza- 
tion and power, which as yet they can not make. They 
have a few excellent ironclads and cruisers, and a few 
good instructors ; but the results of the late war show 
tliat neither their ships nor their crews can stand against 
those of the French. They have a considerable armed 
force and many improved field-pieces and breech-loading 
fire-arms, but no organization adequate to the require- 
ments of a war with even the least of the European pow- 
ers. They have unlimited numbers from which to draw 
recruits ; but the more of such undisciplined men they 
put into the field without commissariat, supplies, or trans- 
portation, against a well-commanded Anglo-Indian or Eus- 
sian army, the greater will be the number slain and the 
more overwhelming the disaster. They have some forti- 
fications, but they are rudely constructed, and in many 
cases badly placed ; moreover, even if this were not the 



CHINA UNPREPARED FOR FOREIGN INVASION. 177 

case, they, like all fortifications, are powerless to inflict 
damage upon an enemy unless they are assailed ; and I 
know of none that can not be easily turned. Besides, 
there are many points on the Chinese coast totally un- 
defended, where landings can be made by bold and reso- 
lute commanders. To make all this worse, it should be 
remembered that they haye no railroads, and no north 
and south lines of inland water communication adequate 
for military uses ; hence, they are absolutely powerless to 
concentrate, move, or supply an army capable of making 
head against a properly organized and equipped European 
invasion, even if they could find or create such an army 
in their own dominions and out of their own materials. 

War is always possible ; it generally comes when least 
expected, and may come in that way, as heretofore, upon 
China. Should it come soon, or even within the next 
decade, it can have but one result, and that will be the 
defeat and humiliation of the Chinese army. It will be 
impossible for it to defend even the capital, and it is 
more than probable that the Emperor and his court will 
have to flee into Manchuria, as did their predecessors 
before the allied French and English armies. This pre- 
supposes an invasion from the sea- coast ; but it is now or 
soon will be possible for the Eussians, whose railroad has 
already penetrated to within a few hundred miles of the 
Chinese boundary, and whose settlements in the Amur 
Valley are growing with surprising rapidity, to make a 
descent upon Peking from the north, as did Kublai 
Khan and the founder of the present dynasty. In that 
case, the Emperor and court will have to flee toward the 
Yang-tse or the interior of the empire ; and, while this 
may enable them to continue the war longer, the result 
will in the end be the same. Defeat must follow, and 
there will be nothing left for them but to accept such 
terms as the conquerors may consent to grant. It is 



178 CEIITA. 

hardly to be doubted that an army of fifty thousand 
Europeans, with the usual proportion of artillery and 
infantry and a preponderance of cayalry, well organized, 
supplied, and commanded, can go auywhere in China, 
and, if so disposed, it can oyerrun and dismember the 
empire. Should such an inyasion take place and meet 
with success, is it safe for the Emperor or his advisers to 
assume, or even to hope, that the terms extended to 
them will ever again be as favorable as those granted by 
the English and French allies ? It has been said that the 
French, upon the occasion alluded to, proposed a parti- 
tion of the country along the line of the Yang-tse-kiang, 
and that both French and English have more than once 
since, in contemplating "their opportunities," been 
''^ astounded at their moderation." If either should find 
it necessary to go to war with China again in earnest, it 
will doubtless go alone, and thus be free to act according 
to its own judgment. 

Note. — The Seventh Prince died about December 1st, IBS'?, and his 
place as a state adviser was at once filled by his brother, the Fifth 
Prince. How long the l§,tter will retain his place, or how much influ- 
ence he will exercise, is a mere matter of conjecture. Only one thing 
seems to be entirely certain, and that is that the Empress-Dowager is 
still the most important personage connected with the Imperial Govern- 
ment.— J. H. W. 



CHAPTER XII. 

The Emperor an absolute monarch — The Government patriarchal in form 
— Liberty unknown — Slavery exists — No hereditary nobility except 
the imperial clan and heads of the families of Confucius and Koxinga 
— The literati are the office-holders — The Imperial Government — 
The Grand Secretariat — The General Council — The *' Peking Gazette " 
— The Six Great Boards — The Tsung-li Yamen — The Censorate or 
all-examining court — The minor courts and boards — The functions 
of the great boards — Power greatly divided and distributed — The 
provincial governments — All officers selected by public examination 
— Defects of the system — Li Hung-Chang's position somewhat like 
that of the British Premier — Foreign ministers not yet received by 
the Emperor or Empress-Dowager — Much of the foreign business 
done by provincial governors — The central Government isolated and 
inaccessible — Difficulty of communicating or transacting business 
with it. 

Although the Emperor of China is an absolute mon- 
arch, who may do almost as he pleases in any specific 
case, the machinery by which he carries on the govern- 
ment is complex and ponderous to an unusual degree. 
It is patriarchal in form and arbitrary in character, and 
yet there is a vein of high moral ethics underlying and 
pervading its operations. With an able and well-in- 
structed monarch to run it, he might not only be entirely 
independent of restrictions, but he could hardly fail to 
make it a source of great blessing to his subjects. It has 
no constitutional limitations, but comprehends all sub- 
jects, and is the source of all power, mercy, and justice. 



180 CHmA. 

No goYernment in modern times is altogether like it. It 
has no cabinet of responsible ministers, as in Europe and 
America, each presiding over an executive department, 
with well-defined powers and duties, and in a greater or 
less degree independent of the chief of state ; but, instead, 
its current operations are conducted by a series of great 
boards and courts, composed of many members, none of 
whom have power individually to originate measures, or 
to take action upon them. There is nothing elective, 
and no element of popularity to be found anywhere in its 
machinery. It is in no degree the servant of the people, 
but belongs exclusively to the Emperor, and exists sole- 
ly for his convenience. He is head and front of all its 
boards and departments, the actuating and controlling 
force of all its branches. The whole body of the people 
is under him, and, like a great family in the patriarchal 
days, bound implicitly to obey his will. The members 
of this family have no rights or property of their own ; 
in fact, '^they have nothing but what has been derived 
from and may at any time be reclaimed by him." * It 
follows, as a matter of course, that he holds the fee sim- 
ple of all the land, and may, if so minded, dispose of it 
without let or hindrance. Commonly, however, he does 
not interfere with titles so long as taxes are promptly 
paid. The great number of his subjects, and the wide 
extent of their aggregate possessions, are their surest pro- 
tection. 

Liberty is unknown among them, and it is said that 
there is not even a word in the Chinese language which 
accurately expresses its significance. Slavery exists, and 
is fully protected by the laws, and to all external appear- 
ances the slaves are just like their masters in race and 
color, if not in condition. There is no Bill of Eights by 

* " The Middle Kingdom," p. 4-11, et seq. 



LIBERTY UJSTKJSrOWJSr. 181 

which the freeman is protected, nor any other form of 
acknowledgment on the part of the Emperor that the 
plain people have any rights which he is bound to re- 
spect. He is their sovereign lord, the son of Heaven, and 
reigns over them by divine right pure and simj^le. There 
are no hereditary nobility nor feudal lords, except the 
heads of the family of Confucius and Koxinga, and the 
members of the imperial clan ; consequently, there has 
never been any meeting in China, like that of the English 
barons at Eunnymede, to teach an overbearing monarch 
that there is an earthly power greater than his own. 
Neither is there any hereditary official class. The literati 
are the office-holders, and theoretically there is no possible 
road into that class, except that of learning, as tested by 
the public examinations. Every man's son, no matter how 
humble his origin, may present himself for examination, 
and, as the latter is so conducted that the examiners do 
not know the names or station of the persons they are ex- 
amining, it is hardly possible that favoritism should work 
injustice. The system is strictly democratic and popular. 
Most of the defects there are in it are due to the fact that 
it has to deal with human nature, through human agen- 
cies and imperfect knowledge, and takes no cognizance 
whatever of science. There is no system of popular edu- 
cation, and therefore no general diffusion of knowledge. 
Contrary to the common belief, it is now pretty well es- 
tablished that not more than one man in a hundred, nor 
one woman in a thousand, can read and write, and hence 
there is no such thing as popular opinion to guide or uphold 
the Government. In all matters, therefore, which come 
within the functions of the Government, the country re- 
lies absolutely upon the Throne, and, when that fails, 
everything fails. It is strong in small matters, but weak 
in great ones. It is strong in dealing with business that 
is settled by custom, but weak when business arises for 



182 csmA. 

whioli there is no precedent, and in regard to which, the 
code is silent. 

The first great branch of the Goyernment is known 
as the Grand Secretariat. It consists of four principal 
chancellors, two assistants, and ten sub-assistants, half of 
whom in each grade are Manchus and half Chinese. Its 
duties are to receive and transmit edicts and decrees, pre- 
sent memorials, lay before the Emperor the business of the 
day, receive his instructions thereon, and forward them 
to the appropriate office to be copied and promulgated. 
The officers of the Grand Secretariat also belong to other 
boards and bureaus, and individually have many other 
duties to perform. They are the keepers of the twenty- 
five seals of state, each of which has its own peculiar 
form, and is used for a special purpose. 

The General Council, or Council of State, which was 
organized about 1730, although nominally second, has be- 
come, perhaps, the most influential body in the Govern- 
ment.* It is composed of an indefinite number of princes 
of the blood, grand secretaries, chancellors, presidents and 
vice-presidents of the six boards, selected by the Emperor 
at his pleasure. " Its duties are to write imperial edicts 
and decisions, and determine such things as are of im- 
portance to the army and nation, in order to aid the sov- 
ereign in regulating the machinery of affairs." It meets 
daily between five and six in the morningc and at such 
other times as may be necessary, either in the immediate 
or assumed presence of the Emperor, and takes cognizance 
of whatever business is brought before it. It keeps the 
lists of officers entitled to promotion, and of persons to 
fill vacancies ; supervises and correlates the action of the 
various branches of government, not only in the capital 
but throughout the country, and generally keeps the Em- 

* " Middle Kingdom," vol. i, p. 418. 



TEE "-PEKING gazette:' 183 

peror informed of such matters as should haye his per- 
sonal attention. 

The line of demarkation between the Grand Secretariat 
and the General Council does not seem to be well defined, 
and as each is composed of both Chinese and Manchus in 
nearly equal numbers, there is a certain amount of dislike 
and riyalry between them, which doubtless causes some 
trouble to the Emperor, but is supposed to have a com- 
pensating advantage in enabling him the more easily to 
discover and thwart intrigues and conspiracies. 

The common method of procedure for each of these 
bodies is to present its views and recommendations, in 
regard to such memorials as come before it, to the Em- 
peror, upon a piece of paper attached, indicating the ac- 
tion to be taken, or upon more than one if alternative 
recommendations are made, and the Emperor signifies his 
approval or disapproval with the vermilion pencil which 
is furnished to him for that purpose, or he may write 
a separate opinion or decree of his own, if he is so 
minded. 

The ^^ Peking Gazette," which has been published 
daily, it is said, for eight hundred years, is the official 
organ of the Government, and it is made up of memorials, 
edicts, decrees, and rescripts, which have been presented 
to and acted upon by the Grand Secretariat or the Gen- 
eral Council and the Emperor. It is sent to all parts of 
the country, and constitutes almost the only source of in- 
formation open to the provincial authorities and the peo- 
ple as to what is going on in the capital and throughout 
the empire. Certain persons may also copy and print 
these documents, and abridge the same, but no one is per- 
mitted to make editorial notes, comments, or explanations. 
The ^* Gazette" is translated by the official interpreters 
for the various legations, and also by one of them for the 
•^^ North China Herald," which publishes it entire or in 



184 CHINA. 

part for its readers, according to its interest, and collects 
it year by year into separate volumes for sale to the world 
at large. It affords the best and only attainable means 
of ascertaining how the daily operations of the Chinese 
Goyernment are carried on, and, although much of it is 
exceedingly dry reading, it also contains many interesting 
and instructive papers. 

While the Government evidently selects the matter 
to be published, and can of course suppress whatever it 
chooses, it does not seem to screen rascality or malfeasance 
in ofiBce, nor to conceal in any degree the short-comings 
of the official class. To the contrary, it is quite as free in 
exposing crime, disaster, famine, and misfortune, as the 
daily press of our own country. Whatever comes before 
the Government seems to be openly and fairly laid before 
the people ; and no moralist could deal with bribery and 
corruption in a more straightforward manner, or give ut- 
terance to admonitions and precepts of a higher or more 
exemplary character. All public business requiring fur- 
ther investigation and report, is distributed by the Grand 
Secretariat or the Grand Council, as the case may be, to 
whichever of the Six. Great Boards can most appropri- 
ately take cognizance of the business in question. These 
boards are as follows : 

1. Hu-Pu, or Board of Eevenue. 

2. Li-Pu, or Board of Civil Office. 

3. Li-Pu, or Board of Rites. 

4. Ping-Pu, or Board of War. 

5. Hing-Pu, or Board of Punishments. 

6. Kung-Pu, or Board of Works. 

Each of these boards has two presidents, four vice- 
presidents, and from six to eight directors ; several have 
superintendents, and all have secretaries, under-secreta- 
ries, comptrollers, clerks, writers, and servants, in suffi- 



ORGANIZAIION OF TEE GEEAT BOARDS. 185 

cient numbers to carry on the business according to cus- 
tom. The upper officers are equally divided between 
Manchus and Chinese, the theory being that, while they 
are alike subjects of the Throne, each will watch the other 
closely, and thus secure the very best results to the state. 
The boards are also divided into appropriate bureaus for 
the transaction of the various kinds of business with 
which they have to deal. They perform their public du- 
ties mostly within the Forbidden city, entirely beyond 
the sight and influence of foreigners, and both officers 
and members are almost absolutely unknown to the diplo- 
matic corps residing at Peking. There are no social or 
official relations between them and the foreign ministers ; 
and, this combined with the barrier interposed by the lan- 
guage of the country, conceals the daily working of the 
Government to a degree that an outsider can hardly un- 
derstand. 

There is also another board, known as the Tsung-li 
Yamen, or Board of Foreign Affairs, organized shortly 
after the capture of Peking by the allied English and 
French armies, apparently for the sole purpose of receiv- 
ing foreign diplomatic agents, and listening to what they 
may have to say. It is composed of a Mancha prince, 
and four or six ministers, who are at the same time mem- 
bers of other boards. This board seems to have no au- 
thority whatever, except to listen to what the foreign 
ministers have to say, and to report to the Throne, or to 
the councils and other boards. It can not take conclu- 
sive action on any subject, but stands, as it were, a sort of 
advanced guard on the borders of the Forbidden city, to 
report to the Government within what may be going on 
among the foreigners. The prince and ministers are ex- 
ceedingly civil and courteous to the foreign ministers, and 
at every interview entertain them with a formal feast of 
sweetmeats, tea, and hot samscJiu. When I was at Pe- 



186 CHINA. 

king last winter, several of the foreign ministers were 
considering the advisability of inviting the members of 
the Yamen to dine with them at their legations in for- 
eign style, and it was understood that the ministers at 
least would accept, though the prince had not yet com- 
mitted himself. 

In addition to the foregoing, there are several other 
important branches of the Government, such as the Li 
Fan Yuen, commonly called the Colonial Office ; the Tu- 
chah Yuen, or Censorate ; the Tung-ching Tse, or Court 
of Transmission ; the Ta-li Tse, or Court of Judicature 
and Eevision ; and the Han-lin Yuen, or Imperial Acad- 
emy. Besides these, there are a number of minor courts 
and departments, among which are the Tai-chang Tse, or 
Sacrificial Court ; the Hunglu Tse, or Ceremonial Court ; 
the Tai-puh Tse, or Horse Department ; the Kwanglu 
Tse, or Banqueting- House ; the Kwoh-Tse Kien, or Na- 
tional College ; and the Kin- Tien Kien, or Imperial As- 
tronomical College, which prepares the almanac and se- 
lects the lucky days of the year for all the important acts 
of life. 

Although the funptions of the Six Great Boards and 
Censorate are indicated in some degree by their names, it 
will give a better idea of the workings of the Chinese sys- 
tem of government, and especially of its complexity, if I 
define them more fully. 

The Board of Revenue has cognizance of the census 
and the admeasurement of the lands, levying and collect- 
ing taxes and duties, paying salaries and allowances, and 
the regulation of transportation by land and water. It 
superintends the mint in each province, makes conscrip- 
tions for the army, prepares lists of Manchu girls eligible 
for the imperial harem, and determines the latitude and 
longitude of places. It is also a court of appeals in cases 
concerning property. It is subdivided into fourteen or 



THE BOARD OF EEVEN'UE. 187 

more subordinate departments, whicli correspond with 
and control the agents for collecting the revenue in vari- 
ous parts of the empire ; and, as this is paid in money, 
grain, silk, porcelain, and other manufactured products, 
a great number of subordinates is required. One of the 
bureaus of this board has charge of the ''• Three Treasu- 
ries," one for metals, one for silk and dye-stuffs, and one 
for stationery. 

From the fact that this board controls the receipts 
and disbursements, it has great influence over all branches 
of the public business, and especially in regard to such 
new matters as may necessitate additional expenditures 
on the part of the Grovernment. Like all persons and 
corporations which have to do with money, it is naturally 
conservative, and, with the possible exception of the 
Censorate, has more influence than any other board. 
It must be said, however, that it has never taken an 
exact census, nor made an accurate survey of the lands or 
other elements affecting the revenues and expenditures 
of the Grovernment. The theories upon which it proceeds 
are antiquated and crude in many respects ; and yet, if 
the machinery for carrying them into effect were properly 
organized and honestly administered, the results attained 
would be in every respect better than they are now or 
have ever been. One of the great difficulties in the way 
of real progress in Oiiina is the poverty of the Govern- 
ment, and this is due in a great measure to the disorder 
of its fiscal system. Under a capable administration, an 
accurate and exhaustive census would be taken without 
delay. The country would be correctly surveyed, and the 
lands properly measured and classified. With this done, 
it would be practicable to assess the taxes fairly and to 
collect them honestly. It is no discredit to the Chinese 
as a nation to say that they do not appear to understand 
the science of political economy, as applied to levying, 



188 CEmA. 

collecting, and disbursing the public revenues, or that in 
this branch of their business they have great need of for- 
eign advice and assistance. If they could be induced by 
any means to employ either Mr. Goschen, Mr. David A. 
Wells, or General Francis A. Walker, or all of them, as 
a board to advise them in reference to the revision of their 
financial system and the reorganization of the machin- 
ery for collecting and disbursing their revenues, they 
would take a step which could not fail to benefit them 
greatly, no matter what it cost them in the way of sala- 
ries paid and honors conferred. 

The Board of Civil Office is subdivided into four bu- 
reaus, and has charge of all the officers in the civil service 
of the empire. The first bureau attends to the selection, 
promotion, and precedence of officers. The second in- 
yestigates and records their merit and demerit, and pre- 
scribes their furloughs. The third regulates retirement 
from office on account of filial duties and mourning. 
The fourth regulates the distribution of titles, patents, 
and posthumous honors. Civilians are presented to the 
Emperor, and all civil and literary officers are assigned 
and distributed by thie board. 

The Board of Eites has charge of all kinds of ritual 
observances and ceremonial forms, and of the rules and 
proclamations in regard thereto. It prescribes the regu- 
lations for determining precedence and literary distinc- 
tion, maintaining religious honor and fidelity, giving 
banquets, and fixing the etiquette to be observed at 
court, and in the performance of official duties. It 
also prescribes the cut, style, color, fabric, ornaments, 
and insignia of official dress and accoutrements, fixes 
the number of followers, and defines the number of 
bows upon ceremonial occasions, and the degree of atten- 
tion which high officials and nobles must pay to one an- 
other. It also directs the forms of written official com- 



THE BOARD OF WAR. 189 

munications, and has charge of the literary examinations, 
the number, privileges, and distinction of the graduates, 
and the establishment of government schools and acade- 
mies. It superintends the rites to be observed in wor- 
shiping the gods, as well as the spirits of departed mon- 
archs, sages, and philosophers ; and saves the sun and 
moon when they are eclipsed. It looks after tribute and 
tribute-bearers, and also after all embassies sent abroad. 
It supplies food for banquets and • sacrifices, studies the 
principles of music, selects and composes musical pieces, 
and fixes the form and number of instruments to play 
them. 

The Board of War has charge of all the military and 
naval affairs of the empire, and also of the transmission 
of mails, both official and private ; but the postal system 
is very inefficient, except that part of it conducted 
by the Inspector-General of the Imperial Maritime 
Customs for the benefit of foreigners, and of his own 
business. 

This board has four bureaus, which have charge of 
promotions, issuing general orders, inspecting the troops, 
and distributing rewards and punishments ; supplying 
and distributing cavalry-horses ; and, finally, selecting 
candidates, preparing rosters and estimates, and supply- 
ing equipments and ammunition. It does not, however, 
control the household troops, nor the bannermen, which 
are commanded by captains-general appointed by the 
Throne, one to every banner of each race. It must also 
be remembered that the land-forces are largely under the 
command of the governors-general of the provinces in 
which they are serving. Until the establishment of the 
Naval Board, as previously described, under the Seventh 
Prince, the Viceroy Li, and the Marquis Tseng, for the 
organization of the northern fleet, the naval forces were 
controlled in the same way, so that as at present organ- 



190 CHINA, 

ized the Board of War has but little control over the mili- 
tary and naval forces of the empire, and it will be seen 
at a glance that its organization is entirely unequal to the 
efficient and economical management of the public de- 
fense. Its greatest lack is that of a responsible head, and 
a competent and well-organized scientific and military 
staff. It has neither engineer nor ordnance officers, and 
its artillerists are untrained ; it has no quartermaster- 
general, no regular system of transport, no commis- 
sariat, and no surgeon-general or medical department. 
A young surgeon, who had had experience in the Ameri- 
can army, went to Peking only a few months ago, 
and submitted a proposition to establish a medical de- 
partment for the Chinese army, but he could not even 
obtain a hearing. He was given to understand, however, 
that the Board of War not only felt no interest in the 
subject, but held that it was cheaper to obtain new re- 
cruits, with which to replace their sick and wounded, than 
to organize a department for curing them. 

The Board of Punishments has the control and 
direction of punishments throughout the empire, and 
partakes of the nature of both a criminal and a civil 
court. In connection with the Oensorate and the Court 
of Judicature and Eevision, it constitutes the "Three 
Law Chambers," which decide upon capital cases brought 
before them. These three, uniting with members from 
six other courts, constitute a Court of Errors, which re- 
vises the decision of provincial judges before transmit- 
ting them to the Emperor, without whose approval, ex- 
pressed or implied, no man's life can be taken. An officer 
of this board superintends the publication of the code, 
with all its alterations and additions ; another has charge 
of jails and jailers ; another of fines levied in commu- 
tation of punishments ; and still another registers the 
receipts and expenditures of the board. 



TEE BOARD OF WORKS. 191 

The Board of Works takes charge and direction of all 
the public works throughout the empire, together with the 
expenditures for the same. It takes cognizance of all city 
walls, palaces, and public structures, including fortifica- 
tions ; it furnishes tents for the Emperor's journeys, ship- 
timber, pottery, and glassware, and sits as a prize court ; 
it attends to the manufacture of military munitions and 
implements ; has charge of arsenals, stores, and camp 
equipage ; regulates weights and measures, sorts pearls 
according to value, and furnishes death-warrants ; it re- 
pairs and digs canals, and has charge of water-ways and 
their embankments ; it builds bridges and vessels of 
war, mends roads, collects tolls, preserves ice, makes 
book-cases, and takes care of the silk sent in as taxes ; it 
has charge of the imperial tombs, pavilions, palaces, and 
temples, and of the erection of monuments and tablets 
to such great men as are buried at the public ex- 
pense. 

Two of its great ministers have charge of manufact- 
uring gunpowder, and two of its vice-presidents look 
after the mint. It has a multitude of duties and em- 
ployes, and might, if properly organized and adminis- 
tered, be of immense advantage to the country. I am 
compelled to say, however, that none of its duties seem to 
be well or economically performed, except, possibly, the 
work done at the public arsenals, of which there is one 
at nearly every provincial capital and important seaport. 
They are all constructed on foreign plans, furnished with 
foreign machinery, and run by foreign superintendents 
and experts. The greater part of the work done at them, 
however, is turned out by native workmen, who have been 
instructed by foreign mechanics. 

The forts, canals, embankments, roads, and, indeed, 
all public structures throughout the empire, so far as I 
have seen, are badly designed and constructed, and in bad 



192 CHINA. 

repair. They show clearly and unmistakably, not only a 
bad system of organization, but the absence of all proper 
supervision and responsibility. 

The Colonial Office has charge of all the wandering 
and settled tribes in Mongolia, Hi, and Turkistan, and 
generally exercises control oyer all their affairs, civil, 
military, and religious. It collects taxes and tribute, 
makes rewards, pays salaries, and maintains discipline. 
Its jurisdiction extends over vast regions, and of late years 
has been directed specially to reducing the influence of 
tlie Begs, Khans, and Lamas, and the settlement of the 
people in permanent homes, as owners and cultivators of 
the soil. 

The Oensorate, or All-Examining Court, is, perhaps, 
the most powerful branch of the Government. It con- 
sists of two censors and four deputy-censors. Besides, 
all governors and lieutenant-governors, as well as the 
superintendents of rivers and inland navigation, are ex- 
officio deputy-censors, and generally, wherever two or three 
Chinese officials are collected together, one of them is sure 
to be connected with the Censorate, and to keep it in- 
formed of all their doings. A class of censors is placed 
over each of the Six Boards, to supervise its acts, and to 
receive and distribute all memorials and public documents, 
The censors have access to all public offices and courts, and 
to all documents pertaining to the archives and records. 
They are charged with the investigation of all branches of 
the public service, and the privilege of reproving all public 
officers, from the Emperor down to the lowest, is given to 
them by law, and Chinese history abounds iiT cases where 
the privilege with reference to the Emperor has been 
openly and freely exercised. The Emperor is, however, 
absolute, and may suspend or disgrace a censor at will, 
and hence it may well be imagined that only the honest 
and resolute members of the body ever criticise the im- 



THE GENSOEATE, OR ALL-EXAMINING COURT. 193 

perial acts, or even those of the great dignitaries of the 
empire. 

The system is far-reaching in its organization and 
powers, and holding as it does a position next to the 
throne, it is always first to make itself felt, and it cer- 
tainly exerts a controlling influence in many cases. It is 
from its yery nature exceedingly conservative, and, having 
the privilege of memorializing the Throne upon all sub- 
jects, and especially upon such as do not come within the 
range of precedents or the code, it has been potential at 
times, and especially of late, in staying the march of 
progress. 

From the foregoing sketch it will be seen that the 
Government of China, although it has an absolute mon- 
arch at its head, is, from the very magnitude of the em- 
jDire, and the multiplicity of interests with which it has 
to deal, a Government of boards and courts, which so 
divide responsibility and distribute power as in many 
cases to defeat the ends for which they were created. It 
is a great, complex, cumbersome machine, which could 
not exist a day in any foreign country. Espionage and 
surveillance prevail everywhere. Concealment and dis- 
honesty, accompanied by conservatism and timidity, are 
the rule in all branches of the public service, and the 
truth of this is abundantly attested by the ^^ Peking Ga- 
zette." There is neither change nor progress, except in 
the treaty ports and maritime provinces, where there is a 
limited class which comes in contact with foreigners and 
foreign ideas, and also except in the minds of such great 
statesmen as Li Hung-Chang, the tv/o Tsengs, and Liu- 
Ming Chu'an. 

The nineteen provincial governments are like the Im- 
perial Government in their general features. The sons 
and relatives of the Emperor are excluded from holding 
civil office in the provinces, and no Chinaman can hold 
10 



194 CHmA. 

any ciyil office in his native province, nor can he marry 
or own land in the jurisdiction, nor can his brother, 
son, or near relative hold office under him or in the 
same province with him. The governors and governors- 
general are appointed by the Throne subject to these 
limitations, and nominally for only three or four years, 
but in many cases this period is overrun. But, when this 
is done, it is generally due to some great consideration 
of state, although remoteness from Peking, or the apathy 
of the Imperial Government, or the difficulty of commu- 
nicating with the distant ports of the empire, has in 
more than one case caused the period of a governor-gen- 
eral to be extended indefinitely. In such cases the actual 
powers exercised by him are almost as unlimited within 
the province and over the inhabitants of it as are those 
of the Emperor within the empire. In such cases it has 
become iihe custom of foreigners to designate the govern- 
or-general as a Viceroy, although nominally and legally 
he has no higher title than any other governor. 

The duties of the governor-general consist in the 
control of all civil and military affairs in the region 
under his jurisdiction, but, like the Emperor, he is sup- 
posed to govern according to the code and the prece- 
dents, or in accordance with specific instruction from the 
Throne. 

The functions of provincial government are comprised 
under a number of different heads, the principal of which 
are territorial, financial, and judicial, but the details of 
organization and administration vary considerably in the 
different provinces. The governor-general is assisted by 
a treasurer, a criminal judge, a literary chancellor, and 
by commissioners and superintendents, prefects, and dis- 
trict magistrates ; also, by a commander-in-chief, gener- 
als, and such other high civil and military officers as the 
peculiarities of his situation require — the relative rank 



TEE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENTS, 195 

and precedence of which are rigidly and clearly defined — 
subject to the general rule that civilians always take i:)re- 
cedence over military officers of the same or correspond- 
ing grade. 

The authority of the governor-general extends, in ex- 
treme or urgent cases, to life and death ; to the temporary 
filling of all official vacancies ; to the absolute control of 
the troops ; and to the issuance of such laws and the adop- 
tion of such measures as he thinks necessary from time to 
time to secure the peace and safety of his province. His 
higher officers constitute a council or cabinet, with whom 
he may confer whenever he thinks best, and he is always 
subject to regulation removal and discipline by the Throne. 
Any censor may report upon or denounce his administra- 
tion, and altogether his place is a difficult one to fill ac- 
ceptably. Each official is assisted by a multitude of sub- 
ordinates, and the result is that the common people are 
frequently oppressed and fleeced in a shameful manner. 

Theoretically, all officers are selected by public exami- 
nation for the ascertainment of their literary acquire- 
ments, and this department is conducted by the literary 
chancellor, who is appointed directly by the Emperor, 
and takes rank next to the governor. He is assisted by 
head-teachers residing in the chief towns, and exercis- 
ing a greater or less control over the colleges and acade- 
mies, as well as over the studies of the students attending 
them. He personally makes an annual circuit through 
the province, and holds examinations in the chief towns, 
of each department, at which any student may pre- 
sent himself. Those who are successful may present 
themselves at the provincial examination, and, if again 
successful, they may attend the grand triennial examina- 
tion at Peking. Many of the students by the time they 
reach Peking are middle-aged men, and, as rejection does 
not disqualify them from trying again, old men are not 



196 CEmA, 

unfrequently found in the students' stall, struggling for 
the highest degree. These examinations are conducted, 
as before stated, in writing, which must be done in seclu- 
sion from the outside world, and upon subjects given out 
after the students have entered the stalls, and all connec- 
tion with books and friends has been cut off. The ex- 
amination papers are sealed and numbered, so that no one 
can tell who the writer is till after it has been pronounced 
satisfactory. Every precaution is taken to prevent fraud, 
and to secure absolute honesty in carrying out the system, 
and yet it is quite certain that means have been success- 
fully resorted to time and again, by which unworthy men 
have secured degrees to which they were not entitled, and 
which they never could have got by honest methods. 

It is a curious circumstance that the highest degree 
granted to a Chinese subject, when literally translated, 
means simply " fit for office," and not doctor of laws, as 
with us. 

The system, it will be observed, takes but little account 
of character, and deals only with Chinese classics. It takes 
no cognizance whatever of Western learning and sciences, 
and hence, however 'honestly it is administered, can not 
possibly produce satisfactory results, as viewed from a 
Western standpoint. It is well understood that, notwith- 
standing this seemingly admirable method of selecting 
officials, the civil service of China is as bad as any in the 
world, and worse than that of the poorest European na- 
tion. It is not, however, entirely devoid of honest, able, 
and efficient administrators of every grade ; and, indeed, 
this is to be expected, since no plan yet devised can any 
more certainly select and make all officials bad than it 
can select or make them all good. I am inclined to be- 
lieve that for the present, and, indeed, for many years yet 
to come, the system will prove itself to be as good as any 
which could be substituted for it. If Western sciences 



TEE SYSTEM OF PUBLIC EXAMINATIONS. 197 

and learning be gradually introduced into the empire, 
and be made prerequisites along with the Chinese clas- 
sics, the latter in smaller and smaller quantities, for the 
degrees granted at the public examinations, and if to this 
be added the qualifications of honor, honesty, and good 
moral character, before even the highest graduates can be 
assigned to public office, the civil service of China will 
be steadily improved. It will, of course, be still further 
elevated, if a system shall be devised for more certainly 
punishing malfeasance and corruption in office, and for 
*' turning the rascals out" when once they are dis- 
covered. 

It came to be the custom under the late regency, 
and especially after the close of the Taiping rebellion, 
to refer nearly all new, difficult, or embarrassing ques- 
tions presented by foreigners, or growing out of their 
presence in China, to Li Hung-Chang, who, as the First 
Grand Secretary of the Empire, holds a place somewhat 
like that of the Premier of the British Cabinet, or of 
Prince Bismarck, the Chancellor and chief adviser of the 
German Emperor. He does not, however, reside at Peking, 
nor visit it often, but, as Governor-General or .Viceroy, he 
makes his principal place of business at the treaty port 
of Tientsin, eighty miles away. Here he receives and 
calls upon all diplomatic agents who enter the country, 
even- before they present themselves to the Government 
at Peking, but he does not generally see their credentials, 
which are addressed to the Emperor, and can not, of 
course, be presented to any subordinate, however high 
his rank or exalted his position. 

It is an interesting fact that no foreign minister has 
yet been received by the present Emperor or Empress- 
Dowager, and that the credentials of the entire diplomatic 
corps at Peking are consequently supposed to be lying 
safely locked up in the strong boxes of the respective 



19S cnmA. 

legations. This is certainly the case with our own min- 
ister, who not only retains his own credentials but those 
of his recent predecessors as well. 

Much of the foreign business of the Goyernment has 
heretofore been done by the provincial governors, or by 
special commissioners, and in the purchase of arms, heavy 
guns, and machinery, this must continue for some time 
to be the practice. The telegraphs have been built under 
the supervision of an imperial commissioner by foreign- 
ers specially employed for the purpose. Naval vessels 
have been bought, manned, and armed heretofore by the 
governors of the maritime provinces, but all such busi- 
ness will doubtless soon pass under the control of the 
Admiralty Board heretofore mentioned, although it must 
necessarily continue to be managed by the Viceroy Li and 
the foreign assistant employed by him, in all its practical 
details. 

From the foregoing sketch it is apparent that the 
Chinese Goyernment is so isolated, vague, and inacces- 
sible, as to render it almost impossible for foreigners to 
reach, influence, or move it, while it is peculiarly subject 
to the control of conservatism and prejudice operating 
upon it through the Censorate, or through the large num- 
ber of old and timid men, who constitute the majority 
of the Great Boards and Councils, and who are naturally 
sorry to see any innovation introduced, for fear it may 
put their own order in jeopardy. 

In mere matters of trade a foreigner has no difficulty, 
for he conducts all his buying and selling through Chi- 
nese agents or compradors, and rarely if ever has occasion 
to see the people with whom he is dealing ; but, when it 
comes to negotiations of any sort with the Government, 
they must be conducted in person, and generally through 
high officials who have but little independent power, who 
hedge themselves about with ceremony, and who can not 



NEGOTIATIONS DIFFICULT. 199 

be seen at all, unless the person desiring the interview 
also has high diplomatic or military rank, or has such 
letters of introduction as will secure the kind assistance 
of his minister or consul. Unless he can obtain these, 
he had better stay at home, no matter how important or 
pressing his business may be. 



CHAPTEE XIIL 

The eyes of the world now turned toward China as a field for investment 
in public undertakings — Its financial system — No statistics except 
those of the maritime customs — The revenues collected by "farm- 
ers" — The growth of the system — The sources of the imperial 
Chinese revenue — The land-tax — The salt monopoly — The likin, or 
internal transit tax — Miscellaneous taxes — Maritime customs duties 
— Summary — Comparison of Chinese and British Indian revenues — 
Estimates made by various persons — No correct account can be 
given of the expenditures of the Chinese Government — Approximate 
estimate — The funded debt — Fear of the Chinese Government to 
negotiate foreign loans — Its obligations good and negotiable for 
$100,000,000— The Chinese slow to lend to their Government— No 
statistics of private wealth — Thought to be capable of raising 
$100,000,000, if properly secured — Necessity of measures to pro- 
mote confidence. 

• 

IiiT Yi'ew of the fact that the eyes of the world are 
turned toward China as a field for railway-building and for 
the opening of mines, the erection of furnaces and roll- 
ing-mills, and the establishment of manufactures which 
shall utilize its boundless supply of labor, it is important 
that some account should be given of the financial system, 
revenues, and expenditures of the Imperial Chinese Gov- 
ernment. 

It must be understood at the outset that no statistics 
except those of the maritime customs, as the word is un- 
derstood among foreigners, exist, or at least can be got 
at by outsiders. It must also be understood that all rev- 
enues, whether for imperial, provincial, or municipal pur- 



CHmESE FmANCIAL SYSTEM. 201 

poses, are levied, collected, and disbursed under the orders 
or sanction of the Imperial Groyernment. 

In what follows, no effort will be made to account for 
any but the imperial reyenues, for the simple reason that, 
while the provincial authorities collect all the revenues 
except the maritime customs, and, after paying the pro- 
vincial expenses of every sort, they send the balance to 
the imperial treasury, or rather they send what they ab- 
solutely must to the treasury, and retain the *^ balance" 
for provincial uses. 

All official salaries in China are small — in most cases 
totally inadequate to the requirements and expenses of the 
official, and it has therefore become a part of the national 
system that all officers, high as well as low, who handle 
money, are expected secretly, if not openly, to retain a 
part of it for their own use.* The collectors of the rev- 
enue are, in fact, "farmers, ""who must furnish the sum 
demanded of them by the Board of Eevenue at Peking, 
but are permitted by custom (and this has been or is the 
practice in nearly all Asiatic countries, as it was formerly 
in Europe) to retain all they can collect over and above 
the amount they are called upon to account for. In 
China it is said that this system grew out of the practice 
of holding the collectors responsible for the return of a 
minimum sum, and compelling them to make good any 
deficit in the collections out of their own pockets. The 
"Peking Gazette" affords abundant evidence that there 

* A remarkable case illustrating this truth has just come to my notice. 
In pursuance of the recommendation of the superintendent of the Yellow- 
River works, the Board of Revenue set aside 500,000 taels for those 
works last winter, but, when the officer went for it, he received only 
490,000, the fiscal clerk who paid over the money withholding 10,000 
taels for his trouble. This raised a great disturbance, because the 
" squeeze " was deemed excessive ; the matter came to the attention of 
the board, and, after much discussion, the clerk was " fined " and com- 
pelled to pay 10,000 taels, the amount he had withheld. — J. H. W. 



202 CHINA. 

is a continual struggle between the imperial and provin- 
cial authorities about money and its application, and that 
the Censorate has frequent cause of complaint against 
those who have to collect and disburse it. 

The books on China, and especially "The Middle 
Kingdom/' give full accounts of the system and its origin, 
but their figures are not altogether trustworthy. 

The most authentic statement of the Chinese revenue, 
of which I have any knowledge, is contained in a series of 
articles which originally appeared in the "China Mail," 
and were reprinted in pamphlet form at Hong-Kong in 
1885. What follows is summarized mainly therefrom. 

The sources of the imperial revenue may be given as 
follows : 1. The land-tax. 2. The salt monopoly. 3. 
The transit duties collected on inland commerce, and 
known as the lihin. 4. Miscellaneous, including the rev- 
enues arising from "contributions," "assessments," and 
" subscriptions," and from the sale of official rank and 
titles. 5. The maritime customs. 

LAKD-TAX. 

In China, as in atl other Oriental countries, the land- 
tax is one of the principal sources of revenue. It is col- 
lected by the district magistrates, and in the offices of all 
such magistrates there is a registry wherein the name of 
every landholder, every transfer of land, and the amount 
of tax levied on each tract of land, is required to be re- 
corded. As a matter of fact, this is not always done, and 
it is said that great confusion prevails in some districts, 
both as to the amounts of the levy and the persons from 
whom it should be collected. Be this as it may, the rev- 
enue from this source has fallen off greatly of late years ; 
and, although it is said that a part of this falling off is 
due to the devastations of the Taiping and Mohammedan 
rebellions, part to floods, and part to famine, it is quite 



TEE LAND-TAX. 203 

certain that the land-tax is not now over one third of 
what it was in the days of Kienlung. 

The practical labor of collection is performed by un- 
derlings, known as tepaos, and years-men, but it is worthy 
of note that there is no class of middle-men, like the 
zemindars of India. The yield of this tax for all the 
provinces, as given in the Eed-Book, should amount to 
32,845,474 taels in silver (a tael is about a dollar and 
thirty-three cents) ; to 4,356,382 piculs of rice, or to 
about 40,000,000 taels in all ; but this assessment was 
fixed at about the beginning of the century, and is con- 
siderably in excess of the amount actually collected. 
From reports of reassessments made in the provinces which 
have suffered from rebellion, famine, floods, and other 
causes, it is assumed — and the assumption appears to be 
altogether reasonable — that the amount collected in silver 
of late years does not average over 20,000,000 taels yearly. 

That part of the land-tax paid in kind is comprised 

(1) of grain (mostly rice), sent annually to Peking, and 

(2) rice, beans, straw, etc., levied for the maintenance of 
the provincial army. The first was originally levied only 
on eight provinces, namely, those south of the Yellow 
Eiver and along the Lower Yang-tse, but four of the eight 
have, since the Taiping rebellion, been permitted to com- 
mute their grain-tribute into a money payment. In 1813 
the whole of this tribute was estimated at 3,000,000 pi- 
culs ; a few years later it is said to have amounted to 
4,000,000. It is now estimated at about 1,900,000 piculs, 
including that which is commuted into money. The total 
value of this may therefore be put down at 2,800,000 
taels. The present yield of the second part of this tax 
is now thought to be about 3,000,000 piculs, valued at 
4,500,000 taels, and the entire yield of the taxes in kind 
is therefore about 7,500,000 taels. Much more than this 
is said to be taken from the people, and it seems to be 



204: CHmA. 

quite certain that, with a proper registration of the land 
as required by the theory of the Government, and a rigid 
system of accountability and collection, a very much 
greater revenue could be secured from this source. 

The area of the nineteen provinces of the empire (in- 
cluding Formosa) is about 1,300,000 square miles, and of 
the nine provinces in or near the Great Plain, the greater 
part of which is a highly fertile region, is about 500,000 
square miles. Throwing out one half of the whole, and 
counting the rest, or 650,000 square miles, equal to 416,- 
000,000 acres, as under cultivation ; and, allowing that 
it should pay a tax of only a quarter of a tael per acre per 
year, it will be seen that the Imperial Government could 
raise an annual income from this source alone of 104,- 
000,000 taels, as against the present collections, amount- 
ing to only 27,500,000 taels. 

THE SALT MONOPOLY. 

The profit and tax derived from the monopoly of the 
trade in salt have always constituted an important part 
of the imperial revenue. For the purpose of distributing 
the salt and collecting the taxes, the country is divided 
into seven main circuits, the boundaries of which are care- 
fully defined, and the salt produced in one is not, under 
ordinary circumstances, permitted to be transported to 
or sold in another. The administration is nearly the 
same in each circuit. The salt is made from sea-water 
around the coast and from brine inland, and there is no 
restriction upon the amount produced ; but the Govern- 
ment requires that it shall all be sold at fixed rates to 
the Government agents, who establish depots near the 
salt-works. 

The sale and distribution of the salt is managed by 
salt-merchants licensed by the salt commissioner in charge 
of the circuit. The quantity of salt, required in each cir- 



THE SALT MONOPOLY, 205 

cuit is roughly estimated each year, and enough licenses 
are issued to cover that amount, and each license is sup- 
posed to be used every year. Each license entitles the 
holder to buy 500 yin, or 3,760 piculs, at a time, and, as 
it is perpetual, and may be handed down from father to 
son, it is worth, in a good district, from 10,000 to 12,000 
taels. Having paid for his salt at the fixed rate, the mer- 
chant may carry it to any part of the circuit ; but, having 
chosen his market, he must deposit his salt in a sort of 
bonded warehouse, which is established for that purpose 
in every considerable town, and enter his name in the 
book of the warehouse. The salt is sold in the order it is 
entered, and at the price fixed by the Government for all, 
so that the only advantage one merchant can get over 
another is in choosing a good market. 

The Government makes a profit on the original sale, 
and taxes the salt at a fixed rate per picul ; and this tax, 
which is collected at the time of the sale, is also known as 
lihin. When trade is brisk, and each license can be used 
once a year, the profits are from twenty to twenty-five 
per cent to the merchant. The retail dealer is not taxed, 
and, after the salt reaches his hands, its sale is unre- 
stricted. The profits on sales and the tax assessed thereon 
are stated at 9,680,000 taels per year ; but here, as in the 
land-tax, there is room for a very large increase of rev- 
enue by a more careful system of administration and ac- 
countability. It is believed by close observers that the 
Government might thereby, and without increasing the 
cost of salt to the consumer, secure a revenue of 20,000,- 
000 taels, or at least double the amount that now finds 
its way into the imperial treasury. 

THE liki:n'c 
This is a tax upon internal commerce in transit, and 
is frequently regarded by foreigners as illegal ; but, as it 



206 CHINA. 

is imposed by imperial decree, the highest form of law 
known in China, it is hardly illegal, however disagreeable 
it may be to foreign merchants. By the Anglo-Chinese 
Treaty of Nanking, it was agreed that no further inland 
duties should be levied upon foreign goods, whether in 
British or native hands, than were then authorized. This 
clear stipulation was, however, modified by the Treaty of 
Tientsin, and, since that was ratified, there has been a 
dispute about it, but the Chinese have continued to levy 
and collect the tax. 

The likin, as now levied, is a modern form of taxation, 
having first come to the knowledge of foreigners about 
1853, and became universal during the latter days of the 
Taiping rebellion, when the Imperial Government was 
forced to resort to every known means of raising money. 
It is levied on all classes of goods in transit, internal 
custom-houses, commonly designated by foreigners as 
" squeeze "-stations, for its collection being established on 
all trade routes. It is a specific and not an ad-valorem 
duty, assessed upon each bale, box, piece, or picul. The 
word is compounded of kin or hlnen, "contribution," 
and li, nominally the thousandth part of the value. 

The details of the collection and the designation of 
the stations along the trade routes are regulated by the 
provincial authorities according to the amount of trade 
and the frequency with which it will stand taxing. The 
amount collected at each station is inconsiderable, but, if 
the goods have to go any great distance, the tax becomes 
an intolerable one, and exerts a most powerful influence 
upon the repression of trade. There is, of course, no 
check upon the accounts, and it is generally believed that 
only a small part of the collections find their way into the 
public treasury. Fortunately, there is quite an array of 
testimony as to the amount of money from this source 
reaching the treasury. Without giving it in detail, it is 



MISCELLANEOUS TAXES. 207 

suflBcient for my purpose to say that the Board of Reve- 
nue states that the collections from the whole nineteen 
proyinces amount to "17,000,000 or 18,000,000 taels." 

Likin is leyied and accounted for under the three 
heads of salt, opium, and miscellaneous goods, and the 
figures quoted above include the revenue from all these 
sources ; but in the estimate of the revenue derived 
from the salt monopoly the part collected from the likin- 
tax is included, and it is estimated that of the whole 
amount nearly one third is profit on sales, while over two 
thirds, or nearly 7,000,000 taels, are derived from likin. 

The likin on foreign opium, amounting to about 
1,000,000 taels, is included in the statement above, but 
this is accounted for in the maritime customs returns. 
Hence to get at the real amount yielded by the likin, 
these two sums, aggregating a total of say 8,000,000 taels, 
must be deducted from the 17,000,000 or 18,000,000 taels 
given by the Board of Eevenue, and this leaves from 
9,000,000 to 10,000,000 taels collected on miscellaneous 
goods. 

MISCELLANEOUS TAXES. 

These taxes are levied (1) on sales of land and houses, 
at the rate of three per cent on the amounts involved ; 
(2) on marshy lands along the Yang-tse Eiver which are 
too low to be cultivated, but yield enormous quantities of 
reeds, used for fuel and thatching houses ; (3) on mines, 
of which there are but few ; (4) on merchandise at the 
place of consumption or upon produce at the place of 
production, including tea and silk in some districts ; (5) 
for licenses to brokers, merchants, and pawnbrokers ; and, 
finally (6), on the sales of honors and titles. These vari- 
ous taxes, properly levied, collected, and accounted for, 
should yield a large sum, perhaps ten times as much as 
they do now. The actual yield is placed at only 1,500,- 
000 taels, but this is a mere guess. 



208 CEINA. 

MAEITIME CUSTOMS DUTIES. 

Prior to the coming of foreigners and modern trade, 
the duties levied at the yarions custom-houses situated at 
the principal seaports and at a few important inland sta- 
tions did not amount to much, but since then they have 
grown into great importance. They are collected under 
the immediate orders of the Imperial Government and 
sent direct to Peking, and constitute one of the largest 
items in the imperial revenues. 

The maritime customs, as is well known, are collected 
under foreign supervision, with Sir Robert Hart as in- 
spector-general. He has organized a corps of customs 
officials composed of nearly all nationalities, and has 
brought the service to a high state of efficiency. Under 
his management the receipts have grown from about 
4,000,000 taels to an average of something over 13,000,000 
taels net, after paying all costs of collection. Besides 
this, a further sum, estimated at 5,000,000 taels, is col- 
lected at native maritime and inland custom-houses, a 
large part of which is from foreign opium. 
t 

SUMMAET OF EEVEI^^UES. 

1. Land-tax, payable in silver, taels 20,000,000 

2. Land-tax, payable in rice-tribute, sent to Peking 

at taels, 1.50 per picul, and rice-levy com- 
muted in silver 7,000,000 

3. Salt-tax and likin on salt 9,500,000 

4. Likin on miscellaneous goods and opium 9,500,000 

5. Miscellaneous 1,500,000 

6. Maritime customs under foreign supervision. . . 13,000,000 

7. Native maritime and inland customs 5,000,000 

Total taels 66,500,000 

Or $87,333,300 

This money does not all go directly to the imperial 
treasury at Peking, but an arbitrary part, according to 



CHINESE AND BEITI8H-INBIAN REVENUES. 209 

the budget drawn up by the Board of Eeyenue for the 
whole empire, is assigned and set apart for provincial 
uses, and goes into or is retained in the proyincial treas- 
uries, and drawn out as required. With the increase of 
importations which is steadily going on, it is probable 
that the net revenue derived from the maritime customs 
will reach 15,000,000 taels, or 120,000,000 (Mexican), for 
the fiscal year 1886, which, with no diminution in the 
other items as given above, would bring the entire impe- 
rial revenue up to about $90,000,000. Without going 
further into details, it is safe to assert that the entire sys- 
tem of Chinese finance, except the maritime customs, is 
antiquated, cumbrous, and inelastic, and therefore poorly 
adapted to meet the emergencies of war, famine, and 
flood, as they arise. It is also abundantly evident that, 
bad as the system is, its administration is worse. It is 
apparent to the most casual observer that there is here a 
vast field for revenue reform, and the possibilities in that 
direction are suggested by comparing the Chinese revenue 
with that of British India on the following taxes : 

India, land-tax. . . .£21,000,000 China, taels 20,000,000 

India, salt 7,000,000 China, taels 9,500,000 

India, opium 10,000,000 China, taels 5,000,000 



Total £38,000,000 China, taels 34,500,000 

China has a larger population, a greater area, and a 
better soil, and also a great advantage in the export of 
tea and silk ; and yet, if the foregoing figures are cor- 
rect, the Chinese revenue is not above one fourth of the 
Indian. 

It is not infrequently the case that the provinces arq 
compelled to borrow money to tide them over till the nev/ 
taxes come in, and this is done by the governor-general, 
usually on the credit of his province and the faith which 
the lender has in his character, and sometimes such loans 



210 CEINA, 

are approyed by an imperial edict. They have always been 
repaid, both principal and interest, promptly on time, 
and it is quite certain that either the Imperial or Provin- 
cial Grovernments are good for any reasonable sum they 
will consent to borrow. 

As the Imperial Government does not publish the 
budget prepared by the Board of Revenue, there is, of 
course, no sufficient data of any kind upon which to base 
a complete statement of its receipts and disbursements. 
The statement of revenue given herein is as nearly correct 
as it can be made, and yet it is merely an approximation 
which may be $10,000,000 out of the way. 

In connection with this subject, the following esti- 
mates, made at various times and by various persons, are 
interesting. Besides, they show in a most striking man- 
ner in what great uncertainty the whole subject is in- 
volved. For convenience of comparison, those given 
originally in taeis are now stated in dollars : 

1587, Trigault, a French missionary |26,600,000 

1655, Ninhoff 144,000,000 

1667, Magalhaens 50,423,962 

166Y, LeComte •. 52,000,000 

ITYY, De Guignes 119,617,360 

1796, Barrow 264,000,000 

1796 (?), Staunton 330,000,000 

1838 (?), Medhurst 200,958,694 

1823, a Chinese graduate, estimate translated by 

P. P. Thomas 98,482,544 

1840, Chinese Red-Book 77,462,000 

1883, Chinese customs service 106,000,000 

1886, " China Mail " and other sources 87,333,000 

expe:n"ditukes. 

No correct account can be given of the expenditures 
of the Chinese Government, or, at least, none is within 
reach. It is known, however, that considerable sums 



IMPERIAL CHINESE EXPENDITURES. 211 

have lately been spent on ironclads, fortifications, heavy 
guns, and dock-yards, and also upon small-arms for the 
army, and that nearly every year extraordinary floods 
and disasters on the Yellow River entail heavy expenses, 
not only upon the provincial, but upon the imperial treas- 
ury. It is, however, certain that the Imperial Government 
generally pays as it goes, and even in the hardest times 
has succeeded in avoiding the luxury of any considerable 
public debt. It has, of course, borrowed money, both at 
home and abroad, but in comparatively small amounts, 
for short periods, and usually at pretty high rates. But 
having always met its money obligations with prompti- 
tude and in scrupulously good faith, it is now able to bor- 
row under much more favorable terms. 

It is said that the expenditures frequently exceed the 
revenue, but how the deficit is made up is by no means 
clear. It is probable, however, that this has been done at 
times by debasing the currency, by the sale of offices and 
titles, by the reduction of salaries, and by assessments, 
subscriptions, and contributions, all in the nature of 
forced loans. 

At present, although trade is dull, and great loss has 
been incurred by all Oriental countries, through the fall 
in the price of silver, it is believed that the revenues are 
equal to the expenditures, and that the Imperial Govern- 
ment has fully adopted the policy of making no foreign 
loans, beyond what may be necessary, from time to time, 
to pay off such part of its maturing debt as it may not 
be able to meet from current receipts. 

The following tabulated statement, prepared some 
years ago by De Guignes, and published in the new edi- 
tion of the ^' Middle Kingdom " in 1883, gives an ap- 
proximation to the average annual expense for the vari- 
ous items specified : 



212 CEIWA. 

STJMMAET OF EXPEKDITUEES. 

Salary of civil and military officers $10,364,600 

Pay of 600,000 infantry, at |4 per month 24,000,000 

Pay of 242,000 cavalry, at $5.33 per month 12,900,000 

Remounts for cavalry, at $26.66 each 5,853,000 

Uniforms for cavalry and infantry, at |5.33 each . . 4,490,600 

Small-arms and ammunition 1,122,000 

Fortifications, artillery, and ammunition 5,066,600 

Ships-of-war and revenue-cutters 18,000,000 

Canals and transportation 5,330,000 

Total $87,125,800 

It will be observed that these figures are slightly under 
the latest estimates of revenue, but this is a coincidence 
of no great value, and, as they do not include interest on 
the funded debt, an addition of about $2,000,000 should 
be made for that item, which would increase the average 
annual expense to 189,125,000. 

PUKDED DEBT. 

The funded debt of China, which is held nearly alto- 
gether in England, is stated at £5,470,000 — equal, say, to 
126,000,000. The fconds are for short terms, and the 
average rate of interest, owing to the fact that the money 
was borrowed mostly during the late Franco-Chinese 
War, is about eight per cent. The last bonds bear inter- 
est, however, at six per cent, and were quoted during the 
last year at about ten per cent premium in London. It 
is said, upon what seems to be good authority, that 
money has been lately offered by European bankers to the 
Imperial Grovernment at five per cent, but so far it has 
declined to borrow even at that rate, and it is understood 
that it does not wish to borrow foreign money for any 
purpose at present, and least of all to pay for railroads or 
railroad materials. 

It is apparent to all who have conversed with Chinese 



CBEDIT OF TEE IMPERIAL GOVERNMENT. 213 

statesmen, and are familiar with their feeling toward for- 
eign nations, that the one fear in which they are all 
united is, that any great money obligation on the part of 
the Imperial Government toward foreign bankers would 
be the sure precursor of foreign interference in the in- 
ternal affairs of China. Whether this fear be well or ill 
founded, it is hardly worth while to consider. It is deep- 
rooted and wide-spread, and must be considered as an im- 
portant factor in all questions connected with progress in 
that country. 

In view of the evident conservatism of the Chinese 
Government, and also of its promptitude and good faith 
in meeting its agreements, it is the opinion of those who 
are best acquainted with its resources and claims to pub- 
lic credit, that its obligations would be good and readily 
negotiable for 1100,000,000. Under good management, 
that sum would supply it with the framework of a rail- 
road system which would be invaluable in case of war, 
and which would earn enough net from the start to pay 
interest upon its cost, and leave a handsome surplus for 
the public treasury. I have no doubt that this opinion is 
well-founded but of course it depends upon the cost of 
the railroads. If that should, for any reason, reach such 
a sum per mile as the railroads built in Japan under 
English auspices, in the construction of which pounds 
were spent where dollars would now do the work, the 
opinion would not only prove to be erroneous, but the 
railroads produced would be insufficient in length, and 
could not, for years to come, except in a few special cases, 
pay their working expenses and interest. 

In connection with this subject, the amount of accu- 
mulated capital in the hands of private individuals is a 
matter of great interest, but unfortunately there are no 
statistics whatever bearing upon it. Generally speaking, 
China is a poor country, and there is but little wealth 



214 GHIRA. 

per capita among the people at large ; but in the aggre- 
gate, the wealth of the country, if it could only be got 
at, or induced to seek investment in railroads, mines, 
furnaces, and manufactories, is doubtless sufficient for all 
present needs. The enterprise, shrewdness, and frugal- 
ity of the Chinese mercantile class are proverbial through- 
out the East, and it is well known that many of that 
class in the maritime provinces, and especially in the 
treaty ports, have amassed large fortunes. It is estimated 
that 1100,000,000 could easily be raised as fast as re- 
quired, for such purposes, if proper legal protection 
could be given to the undertakings, and to those who 
may invest their money in them. 

The Chinese are naturally suspicious, and especially 
so of one another, and it is likely that they will be slow 
to lend money in large amounts to their own Government, 
or to invest it in joint-stock companies under the exclu- 
sive management of their own countrymen. Education 
and confidence in such matters are of slow growth at best, 
and it is of prime importance to the world at large as well 
as to China that the measures which are resorted to for 
their promotion shall be carefully considered and matured 
before they are adopted. 



CHAPTER XIY. 

Visit to the Great Wall — Decay of the ancient road through the Nankou 
Pass — Mongolian caravans — Origin, uses, and description of the 
wall — the return to Nankou — The ride to the Ming tombs — Descrip- 
tion of the inclosures and buildings — The Avenue of Statuary — The 
return to Peking. 

As Peking is the capital and therefore the best place 
to stndy the Government of China, so the Great Wall, 
which was for over two thousand years its chief defense, 
and to this day the greatest work ever raised by Chinese 
hands, is the best place to get an idea of their capacity 
to overcome physical difficulties and to study what they 
may do when once they have begun the march of mod- 
ern progress. Accordingly, I resolved to see it ; and, al- 
though winter was rapidly approaching, Mr. Rockhill, 
First Secretary of Legation, and Mr. Cheshire, Chinese 
Secretary and interpreter, kindly consented to accompany 
me. The former, in addition to being a gentleman of 
excellent education and literary tastes, although still a 
young man, is an old Algerian campaigner. Having 
graduated at the Military School of St. Cyr, he entered 
the French army and served several years in Africa. 
He has a great gift for languages, and as much of a frenzy 
for traveling as an Englishman. Mr. Cheshire is an '^old 
China hand " of long experience, though yet on the 
sunny side of middle age. He has traveled much, aud 
speaks Chinese like a native. Cheerful, bright, spark- 



216 CHINA. 

ling, and musical, he is a delightful companion, and a 
treasure to any expedition he consents to take under his 
charge as commissary-general. 

With a cook, an assistant, and two horse-boys or 
mafoosy two carts, each drawn by two stout mules, and 
a liberal outfit of bedding, provisions, and cooking-uten- 
sils, we started on a bright but blustering Monday morn- 
ing, by the road leading through the north gate of the city 
to the Nankou, or South Pass in the Northern Hills. The 
north wind was blowing a gale, and, in addition to raising 
a blinding cloud of dust, it cut our faces like a razor. 
As such gales rarely last longer than a day, we pushed on 
through the sear and treeless plain by a broad road, the 
surface of which was sunken twelve or fifteen feet below 
the level of the surrounding country, and looked as 
though it might have been the bottom of an old canal, 
but it had really been excavated by the combined action 
of centuries of travel along it, pulverizing the soil into 
dust for the high winter wind to blow away. The 
country and Tillages through which we passed were 
cheerless and univiting. Here, as everywhere else in the 
Great Plain, there ai^ no hedge-rows, no fences, no farm- 
houses, and but few straggling and wind- wrenched trees ; 
the villages are built mostly of sun-dried bricks, and seem 
the very home of dirt, dilapidation, and discomfort. 
The prospect was enlivened, however, by the distant hills, 
rising bare and ragged from the edge of the plain, and 
sweeping around us in a great circle as far as the eye could 
reach. It was made still more interesting by the many 
Mongolian caravans with from twenty to a hundred and 
twenty camels in each, all laden with grain, sheep-skins, 
peltries, honey, or game, going to Peking, and returning 
laden with brick-tea for Kalgan, Mongolia, and Eussia. 
The Mongolian men and women, mounted on the tops 
of their packs, riding astride, and clad alike in sheep- 



MONGOLIAN- CARAVANS. 217 

skin cloaks and hoods, looked as dirty and bronzed as 
our wild Indians, of which their race are no doubt the 
progenitors ; but they were exceedingly good-natured^ 
and it was amusing to witness their amazed but gratified 
looks as they heard themselves saluted by our little party 
of foreigners with '' Mundo ! " which means in their na- 
tive dialect, '' How do you do ? " As soon as they realized 
that they had been politely accosted, they replied one 
after the other down the line, '' Mundo " — " Mun- 
do-o " — " Mundo-o-o-o ! " 

We camped the first night at Sha-ho or Sandy Eiver 
a poor but considerable walled town of the usual de- 
scription about twenty-five miles north of Peking, on 
the banks of the only stream of clear running water I 
had yet seen in China. Our cook soon had dinner for 
us, and almost immediately after we went to bed to keep 
warm. At five o'clock, next morning, we were up, and 
at six we were mounted and off for Nankou, a very dilapi- 
dated village, at the entrance to the pass leading to the 
Great Wall. Leaving the carts and servants at an inn, 
"we exchanged our ponies for donkeys, and by half-past 
nine were again on the way through the pass. Our don- 
keys were small but agile, and would have carried us 
well enough, but for the fact that they v/ere provided 
with rope halters without bits, instead of bridles, and 
bags of millet instead of saddles. A pair of iron stirrups, 
tied together at the opposite ends of a rotten old rope, 
were thrown across each donkey, and as they were not 
fastened in any way to the bag which served as a saddle, 
the riding soon became more difficult and painful than 
walking. In fact, it required about as much skill to keep 
one's seat on the back of one of those donkeys and his 
archaic trappings as to walk a tight-rope without a bal- 
ancing-pole, and as the road was nothing but a very rug- 
ged ravine for much of the distance, the bed of a torrent, 
11 



218 CHINA. 

filled by bowlders of granite and porphyry worn smooth 
as glass by the pad-like feet of camels which have been 
going through that pass in countless numbers since the 
days of Adam, we soon found it much safer and more 
comfortable to walk than to ride. 

I never saw a worse or harder road to travel, and, 
whether riding or walking, it was equally dangerous. 
Each of us got a fall, but fortunately none of us was 
seriously hurt. Originally the gorge had been occupied 
by a grand highway twenty-five feet wide, paved with 
granite slabs six feet long, three feet wide, and a foot 
thick ; but nearly every vestige of this road has long since 
been swej)t away by the torrents of the rainy season, or 
worn out by the ceaseless travel of caravans along it. 

About two thirds of the way through the pass we 
caught sight of the Great Wall on the hill-tops, a thousand 
or fifteen hundred feet above us. Once seen, it can never 
be forgotten. Here we passed through a curious arched 
gateway, which spans the road, and carries a loop of the 
main wall — a sort of inner defense, as it were — which 
crosses the valley at this place. This arch was erected in 
1345, and on its interior face is a curious Buddhist in- 
scription in six different languages — Chinese, Mongolian, 
Oigour, Devanagari, JSTiu-Chih, and Thibetan. It is, of 
course, hoary with age, and, like everything else, whether 
new or old, in China, seems hastening toward ruin and 
decay. From this point to the Great Wall itself the 
gorge rises rapidly, becomes rougher and rougher, and is 
overlooked on either side by tablets and shrines, erected 
by travelers in years gone by to commemorate their piety 
or the safe arrival at the gateway of Cambaluc — the 
capital and Mecca of all Eastern Asia. 

After much hard scrambling, during which we could 
scarcely realize that we had not lost our way, but were on 
a national highway — one of the great historic roads of the 



THE GREAT WALL. 219 

world, by which primeval tribes bad descended into the 
Great Plain, and an almost boundless empire had been 
conquered — we reached the summit of the pass and the 
portal of the w^all shortly after noon ; but we were amply 
repaid for all the trouble we had gone through in getting 
there by the wonderful work before us. 

The Great Wall was evidently an effective national 
barrier, built at a time when the wild tribes of North- 
eastern Asia were pressing forward into the richer low- 
lands, whither their kinsmen had gone centuries before ; 
but it may well be doubted that it was conceived and 
completed, as it is now, by a single mind, or as a single 
undertaking. It most probably consisted originally of a 
line of detached earthworks, which some able ruler or 
captain strengthened and connected so as to present an 
unbroken line to the public enemy. 

It is said to have been finished two hundred and five 
years before Christ by Tsin Chi-Hwangti, and to be nearly 
1,600 miles long. The Chinese call it the *' Ten-thou- 
sand- Z^ wall " ; and, if it really had any such length, it 
would be something over 3,350 miles long. That part 
of it which we visited has evidently been rebuilt within 
the last three or four hundred years, and, while it looks 
old and at places is in ruins, it has something of a modern 
appearance. It is from twenty-five to thirty feet high, 
fifteen to twenty feet thick, and revetted, outside and in, 
with cut-granite masonry laid in regular courses with an 
excellent mortar of lime and sand. It is surmounted by 
a parapet or battlement of gray burned brick eighteen or 
twenty inches thick, covered with moss, and pierced with 
crenelated openings for the defenders, whether archers or 
matchlock-men, to fire through. The rear or inner revet- 
ment wall is also furnished with a lower parapet, but it is 
not crenelated. The top is paved with a double layer of 
brick about a foot square. The inside of the wall is made 



220 CHmA. 

of earth and loose stone well rammed in. Every two or 
three hundred yards there is a flanking turret thirty- five 
or forty feet high, projecting beyond and overlooking the 
face of the wall in both directions, and near each turret 
is a stone staircase leading down between the walls to a 
door opening upon the ground to the rear. 

The most astonishing thing about it is, however, that 
it climbs straight up the steepest and most rugged mount- 
ain-sides, courses along their summits, descends into 
gorges and ravines, and, rising again, skirts the face of 
almost inaccessible crags, crosses rivers, valleys, and 
plains in endless succession from one end of the empire 
to the other — from the sea-shore on the Grulf of Pechile 
to the desert wastes of Turkistan. No spot is left un- 
guarded or uncovered, and, no matter how fierce and 
active were the wild tribesmen who assailed it, or how 
innumerable were their armies, it is evident that it could, 
if well defended, even by men armed with nothing better 
than stones, defy the world up to the day of gunpowder 
and artillery. Indeed, it is almost impossible to con- 
ceive of its capture except through treachery or gross 
neglect on the part bf those whose duty it should be to 
defend it. It is laid out in total defiance of the rules of 
military engineering, and yet the walls are so solid and 
inaccessible, and the gates so well arranged and defended, 
that it would puzzle a modern army with a first-class 
siege-train to get through it if any effort whatever were 
made for its defense. 

One can form no adequate idea of the amount of labor 
or materials expended upon this great work unless he has 
seen and measured it. The simple problem of cutting 
the stone, making the brick, and transporting them to 
the wall, must have been a sore puzzle to those who had 
it in hand, and it is almost impossible to conceive the 
means by which the water used in making mortar could 



TEE GREAT WALL. 221 

be carried to the mountain-tops across such a rough and 
arid country. 

It is of course known that the movement which crys- 
tallized itself in that way was a national if not a popular 
one, and that it was carried through by contingents of 
men from the various provinces, the men being paid and 
subsisted by the province to which they belonged till they 
had finished the task assigned - them. The road from 
Mongolia, which lies just outside the wall, enters it by 
an immense postern-gate, which is defended by a sort of 
square bastion and turrets so arranged as to command and 
bar all approaches. At the point where we climbed to the 
top of the wall, and sheltered ourselves from the wind in a 
corner between a turret and the parapet, the elevation 
above Peking, as shown by my aneroid, is 2,150 feet, but 
within half a mile it is at least 600 feet higher. There is a 
strange fascination in the grandeur and barbaric strength 
of this wall, as well as in the wild and desolate scenery 
surrounding it, which holds the most prosaic traveler 
firmly in its grasp. We lingered till our guides said we 
must go, or it would be impossible to rejoin our carts and 
servants that night. So, with our faces once turned to- 
ward JSTankou, we hurried on as fast as the execrable road, 
or rather the wild, bowlder-strewn gorge, would allow ; 
but, with all we could do, riding and walking in turn, 
darkness overtook us, and it was eight o'clock before we 
reached our inn. Here the scene changed. Our sitting- 
room was well lighted, and the table was spread for din- 
ner, which was ready. It consisted of pea-soup, broiled 
beefsteaks, and excellent chops of Mongolian fat-tailed 
mutton, Boston baked beans, canned corn, and pancakes, 
with claret, port, tea, and coffee ; and it was all just as 
good as if it had been served at Delmonico's. 

As soon as dinner was over, we went to bed, and al- 
most immediately to sleep. We had done about forty 



222 CSmA. 

miles that day, thirty of them oyer the worst road I ever 
saw, and were consequently tired. Eecollecting the ex- 
periences of my campaigning days, I had furnished myself 
with an India-rubber air-mattress before leaving home, 
and I found it upon this occasion, and during all my sub- 
sequent travels in China, a source of unalloyed comfort. 

The next day, we were up and off before dawn. Our 
route lay to the eastward- along the foot-hills, which were 
as bare, sharp, and clear in the brilliant light of the full 
moon as the hills of New Mexico in the transparent at- 
mosphere of that distant region. The morning was spark- 
ling with frost, but not a breath of air was stirring. The 
country was everywhere still and deserted; no travelers 
were abroad, no lowing herds were heard, and no sounds 
arose, except the music of our ponies' feet as they clinked 
against the gravel of the stony hill-sides and ravines, to 
break the solemn stillness of the mvigorating air. After 
an hour's sharp trot, the faint gray light of dawn appeared 
in the distant east. The edge of the horizon shone with a 
deep pearly blue, shading off into gray, and that again into 
a beautiful glow of pink upper lights, which covered the 
awakening landscape with an indescribable charm. In 
another half-hour the sun rose clear and red in a cloud- 
less sky, and the day was glorious with sunshine and 
beautiful scenery. Our route lay still along the foot- 
hills, with persimmon-groves to the right and left of us, 
but no other trees anywhere to be seen. In another hour 
we had arrived at the edge of a broad, park-like amphi- 
theatre, formed by the main ridge of mountains and a 
line of detached isolated hills rising from the plain. This 
charming spot had been selected several hundred years 
before by the Ming Emperor Yungloh for the burial-jDlace 
of the dynasty (1318-1644), and here their celebrated 
tombs are placed at intervals around the amphitheatre, 
which is from three and a half to four miles across. 



TEE MINQ TOMBS. 223 

Standing at the entrance to tlie park, it seemed to be 
perfectly leyel. The hills themselves were bare, but 
beautiful in outline and the color of their stratified rocks. 
Here and there on the foot-hills were clumps of ever- 
greens and deciduous trees inclosing a compound, above 
the walls of which could be seen the red eaves and yellow- 
tiled roofs which betoken an imperial burial-place. Se- 
lecting what seemed to be the largest one, we rode straight 
across-country toward it ; but, instead of finding a plain 
all the way, we soon came to a deep, wide ravine, across 
which at one time there had been a broad paved road 
and two splendid gray-marble bridges of six or seven 
arches each. One of these had been partly carried away 
by a torrent, which was now dry, but the other was 
standing solitary and alone, and looked as though it had 
not been used for centuries, which is probably the case, 
for the Mings were pure Chinese, and their descendants 
have entirely disappeared. The present dynasty, it must 
be remembered, are Manchus, and, while they publicly 
reverence their predecessors, although of another race, 
they really never worship at their tombs. There is a 
public keeper appointed, and a small allowance made for 
their maintenance ; but, so far as I could see, no evidence 
whatever of care or attention. We soon reached the first 
tomb, which we found in a grove surrounded by a high 
brick wall, the gates of which were barred and locked. 
After calling loudly, but in vain, for the gate-keeper, we 
turned to the left, and went on about a mile to a still 
larger inclosure. It was embowered in a grove of stately 
arbor-vitse, built like the other of bricks, faced with red 
stucco, and entered from the front by a splendid pailoio- 
like gate, covered with green and yellow imperial tiles of 
perfect glaze and workmanship. Here we soon found the 
gate-keeper, and for a Mexican dollar induced him to open 
the ponderous wooden doors and act as our guide. The 



224 CHINA. 

first building we passed through was a great open shed^ with 
the peculiar Chinese ridge-pole, eaves, and roof covered 
with yellow tiles. A hundred and fifty feet farther on we 
came to a stately pavilion on a raised platform, surrounded 
by three low, narrow terraces, overgrown with bushes, and 
divided from each other by beautiful white-marble balus- 
trades. The whole floor of the pavilion is occupied by a 
hall two hundred feet long by eighty feet wide, the vaulted 
ceiling of which is supported upon lofty wooden columns, 
which are unvarnished and perfectly plain. It is entirely 
empty, except that it has in the center a wooden cabinet 
containing a small painted tablet, on which are inscribed 
the name of the Great Yungloh, in whose memory it 
was erected. Near the cabinet is an altar, or rather a 
large table, on which the faithful are supposed to burn in- 
cense and in front of which they offer their prayers to the 
spirit of the dead Emperor. The place is certainly not 
used as a sanctuary at present, for every nook and cranny 
of it is covered with dust, and all its surroundings indi- 
cate that it has been absolutely deserted and neglected for 
cycles, if not for centuries. Back of this hall, two hun- 
dred feet farther, is a brick pagoda of two stories, about 
thirty feet square and forty feet high, in the base of which 
Yungloh lies buried. It is a solid structure, and abuts 
against the hill-side, which is covered by arbor-vitae, young 
oaks, and underbrush, all entirely neglected. Vigorous 
saplings are growing out of the walls at several places, 
and gradually pushing them over. 

These buildings, which might well have been called 
splendid in their day, are over three hundred years old, 
and going rapidly to wreck and ruin. The roof-timbers 
are rotting, the beautiful tiles are dropping to the ground, 
the balustrades are tumbling over, and in a few years more 
the place will surely become only a study for antiquarians. 
No one can see it without being impressed with the re- 



TEE AVENUE OF STATUARY. 225 

flection that the worship of parents and emperors alike is 
no longer an actiye cnlt in China ; and even to the tombs 
of monarchs, who claim to be sons of Heayen, there comes 
a time when no human soul is left to offer its prayers 
before it, nor any human hands to preserve it from ruin 
and desolation. 

After wandering about the place for a couple of hours, 
we started on our return trip to Peking. Within four 
miles we came to the Avenue of Statuary, a mile long, and 
ending at a marble gate, or pailow, which is by far the 
most stately and beautiful structure of the kind in China. 
The statuary is herculean, and consists of four pairs of 
civilians, two pairs of warriors, a pair of horses standing, 
a pair lying down, a pair of elephants standing and a pair 
lying down ; and also of camels, lions, and tigers in pairs, 
all arranged at intervals on opposite sides of the paved 
but untraveled and grass-grown road, leading from the 
gate toward the tombs. The effect of these stately and 
solemn monoliths standing in the edge of the cultivated 
fields is exceedingly impressive. They bear witness to 
the glory of a great dynasty, as well as to a period when 
China seems to have been more prosperous than it is at 
present. They are well worth visiting even in the winter- 
time. We reached the city before sundown, having en- 
joyed every minute of our absence. The cold, exposure, 
and hardship which we underwent were just enough to 
give value to what we saw, and heighten the pleasure of 
our trip. 



CHAPTEE XV. 

The Kai-ping coal-mines and railway — The first locomotive- engine built 
in China — Extension of the railway to Lutai — The Kai-ping coal- 
measures — Output of the mines. 

Shoetlt after returning to Tientsin I made a horse- 
back trip of seyenty-five miles across the country to the 
Kai-ping coal-mines, which are situated at the northeast- 
ern edge of the Great Plain. They are worked by an ex- 
cellent but costly European plant, and use the only rail- 
road in China for carrying their output to the canal, seven 
miles away. It is commonly supposed that there is not 
a mile of railroad in tl^e country, and this belief has been 
spread throughout the world since the Imperial Grovern- 
ment bought and took up the experimental line of ten 
miles, built by Messrs. Jardine, Mathison & Co., in 1874, 
from Shanghai to Wusung. Although this road did not 
run to a place of any commercial significance, and was a 
hastily constructed, narrow-gauge affair, it paid from the 
start. Its principal business was in carrying Chinese pas- 
sengers, who traveled on it merely to gratify their curiosi- 
ty. It was built, however, without any guarantee that it 
should become a permanent road ; and, inasmuch as it 
could never become a link in any great line, and the coun- 
try was not ready for the general introduction of railways, 
the Chinese Government bought the road at a fair advance 
on its cost, tore it up, and stored the rails and fixtures. 



THE EAI-FING RAILWAY. 227 

The original intention of the Chinese Engineering and 
Mining OomiDany, which built the Kai-ping road, was to 
connect the colliery with the town of Peh-tang, near the 
mouth of the Peh-tang Eiver ; and this would have re- 
quired a line forty miles long. English engineers were 
employed, instruments for the surveys were ordered in 
August, 1878, and work was commenced shortly after- 
ward ; but in October the Chinese authorities notified 
the directors that no railway construction would be per- 
mitted. 

The management then ordered the survey of the Ciang- 
ho, a small stream running past the mines to the sea, but 
it was found quite impassible for boats carrying over three 
tons. 

In November, 1879, surveying for a canal system was 
begun, and in October of the following year the work of 
excavating a canal to connect the colliery with the nearest 
point on the Peh-tang Eiver was started; but it was found 
that it would be impossible to bring the canal nearer than 
seven miles of the colliery, so the directors told the Provin- 
cial Government that, unless permission were granted to 
build a line to connect the colliery with the head of the 
canal, the company would be forced to stop work. But not 
till April, 1881, would the Government listen to any appeal, 
and then permission was given to put down a line from 
the colliery to the head of the canal on condition that 
only horses or mules should be used as the motive-power, 
and that it should be called a tramway. 

In the mean time the engineers had been quietly con- 
structing a locomotive in the shops, out of such odds 
and ends as were obtainable, and the use of the men and 
materials for this purpose was kept a secret, for fear that 
it would become known to the Government that they 
were building a ^Hocomotive." The machine was tested, 
with twenty pounds of steam, on the 24th of March, 



228 CHINA. 

1881, and worked well ; but on the 7tli of April, all 
further work on it was stopped by order of the managing 
director, and on the 9th all the rails on which it had 
been run in the yard were pulled up, and on the 5th of 
May ifc was shunted into a shed, presumably to let it rust 
out. 

Work was, however, again begun on it, and at last, 
in spite of all obstacles, the engine was finally completed, 
at small expense, though in the roughest manner, owing 
to want of facilities in the shops, and was run in the 
yard on the centenary of George Stephenson's birth for 
the first time ; whence it was not inappropriately christ- 
ened '' The Eocket of China." 

The first trial on the main line was made on the 8th 
of November of the same year, and since then the en- 
gine has done good service, running over 12,000 miles, 
and supplying all requirements till locomotives could be 
got out from England. 

This engine, in all its details, and indeed most of the 
railroad, was planned and built by Claude W. Kinder, a 
young English civil engineer, who was at the time assist- 
ant to Mr. Burnet, chief-engineer of the mining com- 
pany. The boiler is a second-hand portable one of Eng- 
lish make. The cylinders, 8 by 15|- inches, belonged to 
an old winding-engine from England. 

The wheels, 30 inches in diameter, were bought as 
scrap ; they are of chilled-iron, from Whitney & Son, 
Philadelphia. 

The frame is of channel-iron, from head-gear of No. 1 
shaft. 

The axle-guards are of angle-iron, riveted to the same. 

The springs, and all other work, were made at the 
colliery. 

The wheel base is 8 feet 4 inches (six wheels, four 
coupled). 



THE KAI-PING RAILWAY. 229 

The weight on drivers is six tons ; on leading-wheels, 
three and a half tons. 

It has side-tanks ; end coal-bunkers. 

One motion-pump and one donkey-pump. 

Stephenson's link-motion. Cost of construction, about 
1650 for labor and new materials. . 

The railway has a total fall of 70 feet between ter- 
mini ; maximum gradient, 1 in 100 ; sharpest curve 
radius, 1,500 feet, except in yard, where there are curves 
of 600 feet radius. 

The rails are steel, 30 pounds to the yard, Yignole's 
pattern. 

The line is single, the sleepers are of native elm, 
rough-hewed, and laid on an excellent road-bed, well 
ballasted with broken limestone, and the gauge is 4 feet 
8i inches. 

On the first section of the road there is one tunnel of 
300 feet, one arch of 20 feet span, one open-top iron- 
girder bridge, 10 feet span, one iron Warren girder bridge, 
30 feet span, besides several culverts. There is one half- 
way station at Liu Ying-Chong. 

The imported rolling stock is two locomotives, 11-inch 
tank-engines, 18-inch stroke, six wheels coupled, from 
Stephenson & Co., England; three third-class passenger 
carriages ; thirty-five 10-ton coal-wagons ; seventeen, 5- 
ton wagons, and one brake-van. There is also one saloon- 
carriage, built at the company's works. 

There are seventeen grade crossings on the first seven 
miles of line. 

The traffic is daily about 600 tons of coal, 100 tons of 
limestone, besides pottery and sundries, and about 160 
passengers, who pay five cents for the seven miles. 

The tunnel above mentioned takes a branch line to 
the company's quarries, and all bridges are made for a 
double line of rails. 



230 CHINA. 

Flag-signals are used, and there is a gate-keeper at 
each crossing. 

Notwithstanding the fact that this road is in daily 
operation, runs smoothly, and is a beautiful model of 
what a light railroad should be, its existence until lately 
has been ignored by the Government. So far as known, 
it has never been seen by any member of the Board of Pub- 
lic Works, nor, indeed, by any other considerable person 
connected with the Grovernment at Peking, or of the prov- 
ince in which it is situated, although it has a state carriage 
and a fine house for the accommodation of such visitors. 

It is situated in an out-of-the-way region, has no gen- 
eral traffic, and can never become a part of one of the 
great lines of the country, although it may be used as 
part of the line from Tientsin to the province of Shinking, 
and the northeastern corner of the emjDire. The canal at 
which it terminates has already proved to be insufficient 
to accommodate the business of the mines, and inasmuch 
as it freezes up for three or four months every year, it is 
thought to be absolutely necessary to close the mines for 
the same period, or to extend the road to the Peh-tang, 
and ultimately to the Pei-ho. As these rivers freeze up 
also, the extension will give only partial relief, unless it 
is carried to Tientsin, where a large market is already 
open for the coal. 

The Government has recently authorized the exten- 
sion to Lutai, on the Peh-tang, twenty-one miles from the 
present terminus ; the rails have been bought in Germany, 
new locomotives in the United States, and the contracts 
have been let for the grading, and also for the cross-ties 
and other materials required. It is supposed that the ex- 
tension will be completed and opened this spring. 

The company having this undertaking in hand, as 
explained elsewhere, is purely a Chinese organization, 
and while it has had the assistance of able foreign ex- 



THE KAI-PING RAILWAY. 231 

perts, and the g'wojs^'-support of the GoYernment, owing 
to the fact that it must have coal for the naval fleet 
which it is now organizing, it has not yet proved a finan- 
cial success. The fact is, that it is over-capitalized, and 
compelled to support too many people besides ; hence it is 
difficult to see how the extension already authorized can 
save it from bankruptcy, or enable it to pay working ex- 
penses and interest on its old and new capital, which, to- 
gether can not be far from 12,500,000, and may even over- 
run these figures. It mined and sold last year nearly 
136,000 tons of coal, about one third of which was taken 
at the pit-shaft by the natives of the neighboring country. 
The rest was sent to the Pei-ho and Tientsin, where it 
was taken by steamships or sold for domestic use, the 
selling price being about five dollars (Mexican) per ton. 
The coal is bituminous, of fair quality, but it has to 
compete even on the Pei-ho with Japanese coal from the 
Takasima mines near Nagasaki, and therefore the selling 
price can not be raised, but is more likely to be reduced. 

The country surrounding the Kai-ping mines is highly 
cultivated, but there is much waste land which could be 
reclaimed along the road to the Pei-ho and Tientsin. 
The country is perfectly flat, shallow ponds abound, the 
villages are poor and widely separated, and nearly every 
house is built of sun-dried brick. There are but few do- 
mestic animals and fewer trees, and altogether the region 
is a cheerless and uninteresting one. 

The coal-measures of this region are supposed to be of 
considerable extent, but Baron Richthofen's map on which 
they are delineated, shows them to be only ten or twelve 
miles long. They pitch sharply to the southeast, and hence 
can not be worked for a greater width than two thousand 
feet. A few native mines are worked in the same field, 
and a more careful survey may show that the measures 
extend much farther than Richthofen has indicated. Be 



232 



CHINA. 



this as it may, there is sufficient coal already within reach 
to supply every possible demand for the Goyernment, as 
well as for commercial and domestic purposes, for many 
years. In the future development of railroads in North- 
ern China, the first coal will necessarily have to come 
from the Kai-ping mines, and this fact gives additional 
importance to them as well as to the railroad connected 
with them. 

This road was subsequently and by successive stages 
extended to Tongku, near Taku, at the mouth of the Pei- 
ho, and also westward to Tientsin. Still later it was ex- 
tended northeastward to Shan-hai-Quan, at which place 
the Great Wall leaves the sea. The entire length of road 
now in operation is about two hundred miles. It is no- 
where more than one or two days' march from the sea- 
coast, and could be easily seized or broken by an invad- 
ing army. The necessary money for its construction was 
furnished entirely from the treasury of the province of 
Chihli, aided by a few leading officials, the Chinese mer- 
chants and capitalists being unwilling to go into partner- 
ship with the Government. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Trip to the Yellow River — " China's Sorrow " — Organization of the party 
— The route — The roads — The winter climate — The inns and inn- 
keepers — The old towns — The Grand Canal and its embankments — 
The sluices — Impracticability of keeping the canal open by Chinese 
methods — Necessity for a railway — The Yellow River and its em- 
bankments — Worship of the river-god — Change of channel at Lung- 
mun-Kou in 1853 — Views of Dr. Williams and Ney Elias — Error of 
Abbe Hue — Probable cause of change — Embankments can be main- 
tained — The river can be regulated and controlled by the resources 
of modern engineering — Railways can be built and maintained in 
the delta. 

Hayin'G seen everything of interest in the region be- 
tween Taku, Tientsin, Peking, and the Great Wall, I 
determined now in pursuance of the suggestions of the 
Viceroy Li to yisit the country to the southward, along 
the Grand Canal and the Yellow Eiyer.* I had often 
read of the canal as '' the great internal highway " of Chi- 
nese commerce, and of the Yellow Eiver — the " Hoang- 
ho " of our earlier geographies — as the cause of un- 
numbered woes to the inhabitants of the Great Plain, 
and hence known to the natives as '^ China's Sorrow" ; 
but, curiously enough, notwithstanding I had been in 
China for three months, I could find no one who could 
give me any definite information about them. The books 

* Parts of this, and also of the seventeenth and eighteenth chapters, 
are reprinted from letters which appeared in the " New York Sun." 



234: cnmA. 

are vague and uncertain in what they say. The " Peking 
Gazette " mentions both the canal and the river fre- 
quently, but the former generally in connection with the 
difficulty of keeping it open long enough to bring the 
'' tribute-rice " of the southern provinces through it to 
Peking ; and the latter in connection with the futility of 
all efforts heretofore made to protect the adjacent coun- 
try from its devastating floods. In order to understand 
the reason for all this, I resolved to see both the canal and 
river, and to study them from my own observations, in 
spite of the fact that it would require a journey in mid- 
winter of about fifteen hundred miles through remote 
and unfrequented regions. 

My party consisted of Lieutenant P. W. Nichols, of 
the United States Navy, who was kindly permitted by 
Captain Higginson, of the gunboat Monocacy, to ac- 
company me ; Wang Puyeh, a mandarin of the sixth 
rank ; Li Chung-Ting, Chinese interpreter ; Hsieh Sz, an 
intelligent mechanic from the Tientsin arsenal ; a cook, 
two boys, a servant, two mafoos, or horse-boys, and six 
carters, making, with myself, sixteen persons in all. In 
addition, we had six ©hinese carts, two mules to each/ 
and six saddle-ponies, together with the necessary sup- 
plies of flour, biscuits, sugar, tinned soups, fish, meats, 
and vegetables, for a sixty days' absence, it being under- 
stood that the Chinese members of the party would get 
their daily meals at the inns by the wayside. 

Our route lay along the general course of the canal 
and Yellow Eiver to Kai-fung-fu, the capital of the prov- 
ince of Honan ; thence eastward to Lung-mun-Kou, the 
point at which the river left its old bed in 1853-'54, and 
thence to Tung Ming, where a disastrous breach occurred 
in its southern embankment last year. Prom this point, 
there being no inns near the river, we struck across the 
country to Chining-Chou on the canal, and from there 



CHINESE ROADS. 235 

made a yisit to Ohii-fu, the home and burial-place of 
Confucius, and also to Tai-Shan, the sacred mountain of 
China. Eetracing our path, we returned to the canal at 
Nan-Shan, and turning north followed it back to the Yel- 
low Eiver at Shih-li-pu. From this point we skirted the 
river as closely as possible, going northeastward through 
Ping-yin and Chang-Ohing to Ohi-nan-fu, the capital of 
Shantung. After examining the embankments near the 
city, we recrossed the river at Chi-ho, and returned through 
Ter-Chou (at which place we intersected our route to the 
southward) to Tientsin, having been gone forty-five days, 
and traveled something over fourteen hundred miles. 

The roads were found to be in excellent condition for 
China, dry, hard, and dusty, but very crooked, as is gen- 
erally the case throughout this country. There being no 
fences, no hedge-rows, or ditches to mark the boundaries 
of farms or gardens, and apparently no work done upon 
the roads either in their original construction or for their 
maintenance, every traveler feels at liberty to mark out a 
road for himself, and this is a liberty of which every one 
is compelled to avail himself in the rainy season, when 
the alluvial soil of the plains becomes a sea of mud. The 
consequence is, that it is no infrequent occurrence to see 
a road go around three sides of a field instead of along the 
fourth side, or run zigzag like a ship tacking against a 
head-wind. Even the roads laid down on the maps as 
imperial highways are unnecessarily crooked. They are 
neither paved nor graveled, even where the materials can 
be had, and macadamizing seems to be entirely unknown. 
Indeed, it is not too much to say that roads in China are 
never worked, and could be hardly worse in the rainy 
season. 

During our entire journey we saw only one stretch of 
road, about ten miles long, which showed that it had been 
laid out, heaped up in the middle and ditched, and that 



238 CEINA. 

was through an -unusually low and desolate portion of the 
plains, which would haye been otherwise impassable for 
most of the year. Judging from the crookedness of the 
canal embankments, as well as of the roads, it is difficult 
to believe that the Chinese who laid them out ever had 
the slightest conception of the fact that a right line is the 
shortest distance between two points. There are few run- 
ning streams, and no mud in winter, and, as the plains 
are everywhere as flat and smooth as any floor, wheeled 
vehicles can drive indefinitely in any direction. It is 
curious that the Chinese never put sj)rings in their carts, 
and, in fact, seem to be ignorant of their existence or of 
the use which is made of them in other countries. 

The winter climate of this region is quite remarkable. 
Throughout our journey we had only three days when 
we did not see the sun, and most of the time it shone 
clearly and brightly from morning till evening. The 
nights were also clear and bright, but generally very cold. 
One day we had a slight fall of frozen mist, and the next 
morning the neighboring hills were barely covered with 
snow or heavy frost, which was all gone long before noon. 
The only interruptiorf to the most perfect weather is an 
occasional dust-storm from the north, which blows with 
fury for several hours, sometimes a whole day, or even 
longer. It never rains here in winter, but makes up for 
it in June, July, and August, when the winds blow stead- 
ily from the south and southeast, and are heavily laden 
with moisture. It is these winds, therefore, which cause 
the floods of the Yellow Kiver ; the clouds which are 
brought m by them break over the land in torrents as far 
as the Desert of G-obi ; the streams are taxed to their 
fullest capacity ; the Yellow Eiver becomes charged to its 
brink, and, when it reaches the plain, its flood is piled 
up and frequently augmented by a downfall of rain to 
the depth of many inches in a single day. 



CHINESE INNS. 237 

Our journey was made in stages of from seventy-five 
to one hundred and twenty li, or from twenty-five to forty 
miles per day, and in several instances to forty-five miles 
per day, our practice being to start at dawn, or shortly 
after, and travel fifteen or twenty miles at the rate of 
three and a half or four miles per hour, according to the 
roads, after which we halted for an hour and a half to 
feed the animals and take luncheon. This done, we re- 
sumed our march, and, after making a similar stage, se- 
lected an inn, if we could find one, and put up for the 
night. 

The inns are generally found at the larger towns, and 
are of various grades, but all constructed on the same 
plan. They consist of a compound wall of sun-dried 
brick — rarely of fire-burned brick — the entrance to which 
is through a pair of large doors, which may be closed and 
barred. Sometimes there is an inner yard or court. The 
principal guest-rooms are in a low, single-storied house 
opposite the entrance. We saw one, and only one, two- 
storied guest-house on the trip. The house is divided in 
the better inns into two and sometimes three rooms, the 
middle one containing a square table and two chairs, or 
benches, and the end ones containing a hang, or two tres- 
tles, covered with coarse mats, upon which the guest's 
own bedding is spread by his own servants. The small^ 
houses have only a single room, in one end of which is 
the hang, or trestle, and in the other the table and chairs. 
The rooms are lighted from the front by square windows, 
with paper panes, and heated, if heat is required, by a pan 
of charcoal burning in the middle of the floor, which is 
sometimes of brick, but generally of clay. 

The kaug is a raised platform across the end of the 
room, of the same kind of material that the house .itself is 
built of, which as before stated is generally of sun-dried 
brick. In theory, it is supposed to be provided with a 



238 CHmA. 

furnace and a flue connecting with the open air, for the 
purpose of burning millet-stalks or grass, and thus heat- 
ing the body of the kang ; but, i q practice, the furnace 
is rarely found, and when found it is generally impossible 
to use it. During all our travels south of the Yellow 
Eiyer we saw only one kang, trestles being used instead. 

On either side of the compound are the rooms for 
servants and carters, and also for guests who do not ab- 
solutely require the best. The carts are placed in front 
of the rooms, and the mules and horses are fed in mova- 
ble troughs which stand in the open court, or under the 
sheds which are sometimes provided for shelter. The 
innkeeper furnishes hot water, charcoal, and Chinese 
meals for such guests as want them, and provides for the 
animals, and all at reasonable rates. During the night a 
watchman goes around the premises frequently, beating 
a piece of hollow wood with a small stick in a peculiar 
rhythmical manner, which is everywhere the same, and is 
sometimes quite annoying. 

The scene presented by an inn-yard full of carts, 
horses, and mules is quite animated, but by no means 
suggestive of extraord^'nary comfort or cleanliness. The 
inns themselves in the winter are generally dirty and 
cheerless, and always cold and damp, so that the travel- 
er's only refuge is to go to bed as soon as he gets his sup- 
per. The best and neatest inns are everywhere kept by 
the Mohammedans ; but, as they do not serve pork in 
any form, the Chinese carters and mafoos will not patron- 
ize them if they can find any other inns open. As we 
had our own cook along, and ate no Chinese food, except 
mutton, poultry, Qgg?, and vegetables, it made but little 
difference to us whether the inns at which we stopped 
were Mohammedan. or Buddhist. We, however, had the 
good fortune to stop at a Mohammedan inn, on Christ- 
mas-day, at the town of Chieh-ti, nearly one hundred 



OLD GHINESE TOWNS. 239 

miles south of Tientsin, and had a most excellent Christ- 
mas dinner, the principal articles of which had been fur- 
nished by kind friends before we started. 

The next point of importance on our route was Ter- 
chou, an old, dilapidated city, surrounded by a crenelated 
brick wall, which looked as though it had defied the 
storms of a thousand winters. Its turrets and buttresses 
were crumbling, its gates were rotting down, its moats 
were filled with broken bricks which had slipped from the 
walls and foundations, and everything about it, both in- 
side and out, was fast falling into decay. 

This city is situated on the bank of the Grand Canal, 
which once doubtless brought a large business to it, but 
its glory has departed along with that of the canal. Its 
only significance now is that it is the first station on the 
imperial telegraph-line south of Tien-tsin. 

After tarrying there only long enough to send a mes- 
sage to our friends, we crossed to the west side of the 
canal, which here follows the bed of the river, and pushed 
on toward Lin-ching, where we arrived the next night 
after a ride of almost interminable length. This city is 
much larger than Ter-chou, and, although it presents by 
no means a flourishing exterior, it appears to be a place 
of some business importance. 

The Grand Canal at this point leaves the bed of the 
Wei-ho (the main southern affluent of the Pei-ho), which it 
follows from Tientsin, and winds its way by a very devious 
course across the plains to Jung-chang-fu and the Yellow 
Eiver, a distance of about seventy miles by the road, but 
over a hundred by the canal. From the great amount 
of curvature there is no doubt it follows the beds of one 
or more old creeks or rivers in this part of its course also. 

We rode along the embankment, and found it to be of 
very irregular section, of varying height and thickness, 
sometimes very wide and strong, in some places in excel- 



2i0 cnmA. 

lent repair, and in others greatly decayed, or totally miss- 
ing. The telegraph-line follows its general direction, and 
it is said that the Chinese officials have proposed to lay a 
railroad upon it. This is possible, by adding to it where 
it is not wide enough, and by cutting off the corners and 
bends where they are too sharp, but the road would still 
be very crooked, and it would be unnecessarily expensive 
to construct and operate. 

Lin-ching is stated by some writers to be at the sum- 
mit of the canal, but this is not the case ; the real summit 
is at Lung- Wang Miao, the junction of the canal with the 
Ta-Wen-ho, a river which rises in the hills of Shantung, 
and after flowing westward for many miles divides into two 
branches, one of which, bringing with it an abundant sup- 
ply of sand, which is very scarce in the Great Plain, falls 
into the canal, and the other into the Yellow River oppo- 
site Yu-Shan. 

Before the latter river left its old bed, the canal crossed 
it at Ohin-Chiang-pu, about one hundred miles north of 
the Yang-tse-kiang, leaving a reach of over four hundred 
miles of canal north of the crossing, which was supplied 
with water mainly from the Ta-Wen-ho, and although 
this water was not and could not be properly utilized, 
because the canal was not furnished with locks, it afforded 
fair navigation, except when interfered with by excessive 
drought or floods from Ohin-kiang to the Wei-ho, or rather 
from the Yang-tse to Peking. 

It would give a false impression to leave the subject 
without further reference to the regulation of the flow of 
water in the canal, the necessity for which was apparent 
even to the Chinese ; and to accomplish this they con- 
structed sluices at many places along the canal, so as to 
divide it up into reaches or sections varying from a mile 
to ten and twenty miles in length. These sluices have 
vertical walls, built parallel with and facing each other. 



CANAL SLUICES. 241 

about twenty feet apart in the bed of the canal, and con- 
nected with the shores and embankments by wing-walls 
of the same kind of masonry. The faces of the wall are 
slotted vertically, so as to permit the ends of cross-timbers 
to slip or drop into them, and thus form a bulkhead 
across the twenty-feet opening left between the walls. 
Stone davits and snubbing-posts are provided to facilitate 
the lowering or raising of the timbers and the passage of 
boats, which, against a strong head of water, is, of course, 
more or less difficult. The masonry of these sluices is 
excellent, and is still in good condition. 

After the change of the Yellow Eiver to its new bed 
the canal was practically cut in the middle, and the new 
river, carrying for the time a much larger volume of water 
to sea-level, not only excavated a channel for itself much 
deeper than the canal, but swept away the canal embank- 
ments and filled up its bed, completely obliterating it for 
three or four miles on the north, and nearly as many on 
the south side of the crossing. As the river-bed gradually 
deepened, the surface of the water also subsided, until 
now at low water it is about ten feet below the bottom of 
the canal ; and, as there are no locks on either side, but 
a simple embankment or sluice thrown across the canal, 
it is impossible for boats to pass from the river to the 
canal, or from the canal to the river, except during high- 
water, and even then only after the embankment has been 
cut, the sluice opened, and the canal-bed cleaned out and 
deepened. 

Notwithstanding this state of affairs, and the danger 
of flooding the entire country in the vicinity, the Chinese 
Government, in pursuance of a custom as old as the 
canal itself, has made the most strenuous efforts every 
year to clean it out and bring the tribute-rice from the 
southern provinces through it to Peking. The junks ne- 
cessary to carry that part of the rice sent by this route 
12 



242 cnmA. 

number six or seven hundred. Some seasons they all get 
through, some seasons only a part of them, and occa- 
sionally none ; but it is apparent that the money ex- 
pended in opening the canal, crossing the river, and pay- 
ing the freight, which De Guignes estimates at four million 
dollars, must amount to considerably more every year than 
the value of the rice. 

The use of this canal has been considered by Chinese 
statesmen as a matter of national importance at all times, 
but especially so in case of war with foreign powers. 
During the last war with France every effort was made to 
put it into efficient condition, but, as usual, with but 
little success. It should be remembered that the canal 
really extends from the moats of Peking to the Yang-tse- 
kiang, and that if it were in good condition it would 
afford a most valuable line of internal communication for 
food and military supplies between the capital, the south- 
ern, and the central provinces. The Imperial Govern- 
ment has frequently called upon its ablest statesmen and 
military commanders to take it in hand, but never yet 
upon competent foreign engineers. It is, of course, fully 
within the resources t)f modern science and skill to open 
and keep it open at all times except when frozen, but the 
cost would doubtless be large ; and, even after the work 
had been done, the canal would be useless for purposes 
of national defense, and would necessarily be frozen dur- 
ing the winter. 

At Lin-ching there is about three feet of water in the 
canal at present, but it gradually shoals till the Yellow 
Eiver is reached, where its bed is entirely dry. Its width 
at water-surface is from twenty-five to forty feet, and it 
is badly silted up at several points both north and south 
of the river. We had considerable difficulty in getting at 
the condition of the canal and the relative location of the 
towns near the crossing, until we had made a sketch-map 



OBLITERATION- OF TEE CANAL. 243 

from our own obseryations. After riding all one day and 
part of the next, we found that the canal south of Pa-li- 
Miao (eight-li temple) to the river-bank had been entirely 
obliterated, and that the plain through which the river 
runs had been raised by the deposit of silt from the flood 
four, five, and in places as much as six feet. One sluice 
of the Chang- Wang Canal, also obliterated, had been 
buried, and nothing was left to mark its site, except the 
tops of the stone davits, which were sticking out of the 
ground about two feet. Even the miao, a small temple, 
one of which is always erected at or near a canal-sluice, 
was in ruins, and more than half buried in the silt. 
Owing to this fact, and the impossibility of making a 
straight crossing of the river, a new canal, seven miles 
long, has been constructed from Ilr-Cheng-Cha, ten miles 
north of the old river-crossing, to a point farther down 
the river. There is a good landing at the last-mentioned 
point, and the river has there a deep, well-defined bed 
skirting the foot-hills of Shantung at a distance of three 
or four miles from them, all the way from the vicinity of 
Shih-li pu to the vicinity of Chi-nan-fu. 

Chang-Chin-Chun was once a place of large popula- 
tion and great wealth, abounding in fine temples and 
buildings, and surrounded by a wall, all of fire-burned 
brick ; but its glory has also departed. It is now by all 
odds the most dilapidated-looking place visited by us in all 
the delta country. This is doubtless due to the fact that 
it is situated south of the junction of the new canal, and 
is left high and dry by what little commerce there is yet 
remaining on the canal. Pa-li Miao and Shih-li-pu are 
also in a state of utter desolation and ruin, and tell the 
story of the decay of commerce on the canal and the dev- 
astating effect of the Yellow Eiver floods more eloquently 
than any description can possibly do it. 

Li Hung-Chang, in a memorial to the Throne, says it 



244: CEmA. 

is clear that, so long as the Yellow Eiver follows its pres- 
ent course to the sea, navigation can be had through the 
canal, accompanied by constant danger of inundations 
from the river ; while, if the river were restored to its old 
channel, emptying into the sea south of the Shantung 
province, comparative security from floods would be had, 
but the navigation of the canal would become still more 
difficult. He adds that the suggestion which has been 
" made in regard to turning the river back into its old bed 
is but a figment of the mind," as he regards such a feat as 
impossible. He may be right in the first conclusion, as 
he certainly is in the last, but, as the last can not be ac- 
complished, the great problem still remains of how to 
regulate and control the Yellow Eiver, and maintain a 
line of internal communication between the imperial capi- 
tal and the Yang-tse provinces. 

The solution of these problems is clearly within the 
resources of modern engineering ; but it is a matter of 
doubt whether the imperial authorities are yet ready to 
call in foreign help, or to adopt the conclusions which 
may be arrived at by a proper consideration of the facts 
pertaining to each c&se. There is no doubt that, for the 
present, and under the plans now existing and the system 
of administration now practiced by the Chinese, every 
dollar expended upon the Grand Canal, except for strictly 
local purposes, is wasted.'* 

On the other hand, it is certain that the only way in 
which they can secure a line of internal communication, 
equal at the same time to the demands of the enormous 
commerce which would be secured by it and to the re- 

* Since the above was written, it is understood that both French and 
German engineers have submitted propositions for the repair of the em- 
bankments and the regulation of the river, but these propositions have 
been rejected, and it is given out that Chinese methods are to be adhered 
to, at least for the present. — J. H. W, 



NECESSITY FOR A RAILROAD. 245 

quirements of the national defense, is by building a first- 
class railroad from Peking to the Yang-tse-kiang, and from 
Kiu-Kiang a point farther up the Yang-tse to Canton, 
with branches to certain important mining, commercial, 
and political centers more or less remote from the trunk 
line. Such a railroad, including a bridge oyer the Yellow 
Eiver, can be built at a reasonable cost ; and, what is 
more, it can be maintained against the floods of the Yellow 
Eiver, and under foreign management will pay the inter- 
est upon its proper cost and a reasonable profit besides, 
from the day that it is opened for traffic. 

From Ohang-Ohin-Chun we rode along the embank- 
ment on the north side of the Yellow Eiver for a distance 
of about eighty miles to a point in the plain a short dis- 
tance beyond the village of S'zma, where the embankment 
abruptly came to an end. Thinking that there might be 
some mistake about this, or that there were some local 
features which rendered an embankment unnecessary, we 
rode at once to the river, some three miles south ; but we 
found the latter here, as elsewhere, occupying a well-de- 
fined bed, in a perfectly level plain, the surface of which 
was, by actual measurement, only an average of five feet 
above the surface of the water. We also ascertained, by 
carefully questioning both boatmen and natives, that the 
water was from eight to ten feet deep in the channel, and 
had frequently risen as much as ten or more feet, over- 
flowing the plain and spreading through the country to 
the Grand Canal, to a depth varying from two to six feet. 

We then found, by riding straight back into the coun- 
try twenty miles, that there never had been any 'embank- 
ment to this part of the river since it had left its old bed 
over thirty years ago ; but all our efforts to obtain a satis- 
factory reason, or even an unsatisfactory one, for the 
omission, have been so far unavailing. 

The embankment along which we had ridden was 



246 cnmA. 

found by frequent measurement to be from twelve to 
fourteen feet high, from twenty to thirty feet wide on 
top, and to have outside and inside slopes of two base to 
one perpendicular. In many places and for considerable 
stretches it was well laid out, admirably constructed, and 
in excellent condition, but at others it was not only crook- 
ed, but of insufficient height and width, and was in bad 
condition generally. It was frequently cultivated on the 
top and sides, cut through by road-crossings, and bur- 
rowed into by animals, and of course all these are points 
of danger during floods. The same thing may be said of 
the embankments wherever we came to them. 

Between Tao-chung-fu, at the junction of the present 
canal with the Yellow River, and Chang-Ohin-Chun there 
is an excellent embankment ; but at the latter place it 
joins an embankment of the old canal, which is in a state 
of dilapidation ; and, while the river embankment turned 
the water last year admirably, the canal embankment was 
overflowed, and all the country between the two flooded 
to a depth of from four to six feet. 

From the end of the embankment above referred to, 
we proceeded through several old walled towns in the 
interior to Kai-fung-fu, the capital of the province of 
Honan, about six miles south of the Yellow River. Be- 
fore reaching the latter, we came to an enormous em- 
bankment, about four miles from the ferry, which was 
built by the Emperor Kien-lung over a hundred years 
ago. We saw it from a great distance across the plain, 
looming upon the edge of the horizon like a well-de- 
fined hill of considerable height. On a nearer approach 
it grew in size, and was seen to be surmounted by 
crenelated walls and city-gates. On measuring it, we 
found it to be forty feet high and fifty feet wide on top, 
with the usual slopes of one on two, and to contain about 
a million cubic yards of earth for each mile in length. 



GREAT RIVER EMBANKMENT. 247 

Doubtless it was built by that magnificent monarch to 
show how, according to his ideas, a wall should be built, 
and was left to take care of itself, with the firm conviction 
that it would restrain . the floods of the river forever. 
How far it extends, we could not ascertain ; but were 
informed that it runs to the westward or up the valley 
of the river only a few miles, but eastward along the bed 
of the old river indefinitely. We afterward ascertained 
that it was an extension of this enormous embankment 
through which the river broke when it changed its bed 
the last time. 

Before crossing the river, we made observations and 
measurements with sextant and tape-line, from which it 
was found to be fifteen hundred feet wide and six or seven 
feet deep on the north side, but quite shoal on the other 
side, till a reverse bend three or four miles farther down 
was reached. 

Before going on the boat, our attendants and servants 
offered their devotions to the "river-god," lighting can- 
dles, burning incense and gilt and silver paper supposed 
to re|)resent gold and silver money, prostrating them- 
selves, and knocking their heads reverently and solemnly 
against the ground three times. 

Having done all that was required by custom to secure 
the smiles of the god and dispose him to vouchsafe us a 
safe passage, we crowded our whole party — carts, horses, 
mules, and servants — into a junk about fifty feet long 
and fifteen or sixteen feet wide, and, casting loose from 
the north shore, the top of which was then only five feet 
above the surface of the water, in an hour and a quarter 
we were safely landed against the southern bank, which 
was found to be fourteen feet high. In the passage we 
simply floated with the current, which was of moderate 
velocity, the boatmen guiding the junk by poles and by 
dropping their anchor and "clubbing" whenever neces- 



248 cnmA. 

sary. Our junk struck against sand-bars several times, 
but by skillful use of the poles and anchor she was guided 
safely along without stoj^ping. 

Williams, in the "Middle Kingdom/' states that the 
bed of the river near Kai-fung-fu is so silted up, that the 
surface of the water is higher than the country outside ; 
but this can hardly be ths case, for, if it were, we should 
have probably found back-water or marshes between the 
river-brinks and the embankments and possibly outside 
of them also ; but no such marshes were seen or crossed 
by us. ]^or were there any other indications that either 
the bed of the river or the water in it is now or ever has 
been, except during freshets, higher than the surround- 
ing country. Of course, it would require a careful set 
of cross-sections, made with good levels by competent en- 
gineers, at this and other places, to ascertain the exact 
facts, but there is no evidence which we could discover 
going to show that they are as stated by Dr. Williams. 
To the contrary, so far as any one could see, the ground 
from the northern embankment to the river was level, 
and that from the river to the southern embankments, of 
which there are two, gradually rises on the road to the 
city walls. 

At Lung-mun-Kou, about twenty miles east of Kai- 
fung-fu, the river burst through its southern embankment 
in 1853. It was, according to tradition, higher then than" 
ever known before or since ; but just how or why this 
disaster occurred has never been satisfactorily explained. 

The most commonly received theory is that the bed 
of the river was here silted up to a higher level than 
that of the adjacent plains outside the embankments, 
which were found to be of enormous dimensions, as 
at Kai - fung - f u, but this is by no means proved. 
Careful observations made by us show that while the 
river has here turned abruptly to the north, leaving 



TEE YELLOW RIVER'S CHANGE OF BED. 249 

the old bed along which we rode for about ten miles, 
and all of which, including the sides and tops of the 
old embankments, is now under a high state of cultiya- 
tion, at a considerably higher level than the new bed, 
they failed to show that the old bed is higher than the 
country outside of it. We found from actual measure- 
ments that the bottom of the old river-bed was on the 
10th of January, 1866, nearly eleven feet ten inches above 
the surface of the water in the new river-bed, just abreast 
of it, and only a short distance away ; that the top of the 
old river bank or plain inside of the old embankments, 
was twenty-two feet six inches above the water-surface, 
and that the top of the old embankment, now covered by 
the town of Lung-mun-Kou, has been somewhat changed, 
but where it is cut squarely through by the river in its 
new course it is fifty-five feet six inches above the water- 
surface. 

On their face these figures seem to suggest a probabil- 
ity that the river had silted up its bed to a higher level 
than the country near by, but the appearances of the 
country, inside and outside, indicate more strongly that 
this is not the case. Nothing but a careful set of sections 
made at frequent intervals across and along the old and 
the new river-beds, both above and below the breach, at 
points where the condition of the surfaces has not un- 
dergone material change since the disaster occurred can 
set this question satisfactorily at rest. 

Mr. Ney Elias, Jr., E. E. Gr. S., an English merchant 
of scientific education, then living at Shanghai, visited this 
point in the fall of 1868, and a full report of his observa- 
tions is found in the "Journal'' of the North China 
Branch of the Eoyal Asiatic Society for that year. He 
states that the course of the low- water channel "was 
not always parallel to the flood-banks, but made a wind- 
ing, tortuous line between them, apparently like a nat- 



250 CHINA. 

ural river, and the point where the breach now is was 
one where the current impinged upon the north bank." 
He also states that *' the riyer had so diminished the 
capacity of its bed (which, by-the-way, was always an 
artificial one), by depositing the alluvium with which its 
waters wore charged, that the main pressure during the 
flood-season had come to bear on the upper or weaker 
l^art of the embankments, and, no measures having been 
taken to strengthen these or deepen the channel, the 
great catastrophe happened, which, with its consequences, 
had been predicted by Abbe Hue some years before," but 
he gives no proof except that of '' mere cursory inspec- 
tion " that the bed of the river at the point under consid- 
eration had come to be higher than the " general level 
of the neighboring country." 

Abbe Hue distinctly states that '' the actual bed of 
the Yellow Eiver in the provinces of Honan and Kiang- 
su, for more than two hundred leagues, is higher than 
nearly all the immense plain which forms its valley," but 
he also fails to say that he carried surveying-instruments 
with him, or to give the observations and facts upon 
which this statement is made. I therefore take the lib- 
erty of suggesting that its truth must not be taken for 
granted. It seems to be more likely that, then as now, 
the river-embankments were sadly neglected, that the 
enormous one in which the breach occurred was regarded 
as so safe that it need not be looked after, and that roads 
were cut through it, or animals had burrowed in it, or 
that, where " the water impinged upon it," it had per- 
haps for years been cutting its way at low stages through 
the plain to the foot of the embankment, so that the full 
volume of the great flood had nothing to do at that point 
but to continue the undercutting till the whole embank- 
ment was so undermined and weakened as to make it 
yield readily to the pressure. It is certain, at all events. 



BREACH OF THE GREAT EMBANKMENT. 251 

that if tbe bank had been undermined here, as described, 
it would have broken then or at some other time, whether 
the river-bed was or was not higher than the neighboring 
country. In other words, it is not necessary to assume 
that the river-bed had silted up, as claimed by Ney Elias 
and Abbe Hue, to account for the breach. 

It may be naturally asked, if this assumption is not 
proved, why the river did not return to its old bed after 
the flood subsided, but, on the contrary, continued to 
pour through the breach, and made a new bed for itself 
on its way to the sea. The answer to this is obvious. 
As the great volume of water poured through the breach 
from the top of the flood to the level of the plains below, 
it acquired a high velocity due to the difference of level, 
probably as much as fifteen or even twenty feet, and rap- 
idly cut out a new channel, deepest where the velocity 
was greatest. As Confucius might have said, it is the 
nature of water to flow in devious lines, and also to run 
down-hill, and hence, once outside of the great embank- 
ment, on a plain sloping gently down to sea-level, it was 
impossible for it to turn back into its old bed till after 
the flood had subsided ; on the contrary, all that had got 
outside was forced to flow onward, and in doing so to 
find the line of steepest declivity open to it. As might 
naturally have been supposed, in doing this it also found 
the shortest line from the breach to sea-level, which 
chanced to be at the mouth of the Ta-Ohing-ho, on the 
Gulf of Pechili, two hundred and forty miles north by 
west in a right line from the old mouth, and six hundred 
miles by the coast-line. 

The distance by the new course of the river to the 
sea is about two hundred and fifty miles, while by the 
old bed it is about three hundred miles. It is also ob- 
vious that the water pouring out through the breach, 
found the deepest natural depression in the surface cov- 



252 CHINA. 

ered by it, and this depression, also having a steeper de- 
cline toward the river, induced a more rapid current not 
only throughout its course, but also in that part of the 
old river just above and next to the breach, and conse- 
quently eroded that part of its bed to a greater depth 
than it had ever had before. When the water subsided 
to its low- water stage, its surface was found to be lower 
than the bottom of the old bed below or east of the 
breach. After that it was obviously impossible for it to 
resume its old channel. 

The river at the breach is wider and more filled with 
sand-bars than anywhere else we saw it. It was a misty, 
dusty morning the day we were there, and hence we could 
neither see across nor measure it, but an intelligent citi- 
zen told us that the old embankment had been carried 
away for a distance of 16,960 Chinese feet, or about three 
and a half miles, English. There is no doubt that the 
water could be easily concentrated into one channel, or 
that such concentration would so deepen it as to make 
good navigation for light-draught steamers of the class 
used on the Western rivers of the United States. Indeed, 
the Yellow Eiver is very much such a stream as our upper 
Missouri, only not generally so wide, and perhaps not 
carrying so large a volume of water to the sea. Its water 
has about the same color, and it seems to hold for the 
same velocities about the same amount of sediment, but 
the sediment is more muddy or less sandy than that of 
the Missouri. 

Our measurements showed the river to be only 983 feet 
at Shih-li-pu, 1,656 feet at Yu-shan, and 1,092 at Chi-ho, 
or counting the measurement at Kai-fung-fu, an average 
of say 1,400 feet, or 466 yards. It should also be men- 
tioned that for six or eight miles from Lung-mun-Kou, 
and, indeed, nearly all the way back to Kai-fung-fu, or 
about thirty miles, there is a marked tendency, not ob- 



NEGLECT OF TEE EMBANKMENTS. 253 

served by us anywhere else in the delta plains, for the dust 
or fine sand to gather into sand-dunes, those next to the 
city reaching almost to the top of the city walls, or from 
twenty-five to thirty feet high. There was no reason which 
we could discover why this tendency should show itself 
here rather than at other places, but the fact is as stated. 
It is also barely possible that the soil in this particular 
region is somev^hat more arenaceous than elsewhere, and 
that the embankments built out of it are not quite so solid 
as they are on other sections of the river ; but we could 
not discern that the soil actually used was in any way dif- 
ferent from that used above or below, nor do I believe 
that such was the case. 

After careful consideration of all the facts observed 
there and elsewhere, and especially the lack of intelligent 
and responsible supervision of the embankments, the 
neglect of all ordinary precautions for their maintenance, 
the reckless manner in which they are cut through by 
roads, the persistency with which they are cultivated, 
and with which every vestige of grass and herbage and 
osier-twig is raked and cut from their top and slopes, 
there is no need to look further for an explanation of the 
great breach of Lung-mun-Kou, or of those which have 
occurred at other points year after year, both before and 
since the river changed its course to the sea. 

A great deal of excellent embankment has been 
built, and also much which is badly located and in bad 
condition ; but with a watchful supervision and honest 
administration under one responsible head, together with 
the construction of such new embankment and such ad- 
ditions to the old, as any fairly intelligent man could 
point out as being necessary, it is quite certain that com- 
parative immunity from devastating floods could be ob- 
tained at least till the whole question of regulation and 
control could be studied from data obtained by careful 



254 cnmA. 

surveys and a general system devised in compliance vrith. 
the requirements of the vast interests involved, and in 
harmony with the principles of modern engineering. 

It may be safely said of a river embankment, as of a 
chain, that it is no stronger than its weakest link, and 
hence special and immediate attention should be directed 
to the discovery of all such points, and to the application 
of the necessary remedy. It is a truism which none will 
dispute, in this case at least, that an ounce of prevention 
is worth many pounds of cure. But whether this ounce 
of prevention will be applied, or the great river, which is 
so appropriately called '' China's Sorrow," be allowed to 
break its embankments through criminal neglect or offi- 
cial incompetence and peculation, and sweep off hundreds 
and even thousands of lives hereafter, as it has done so 
frequently in the past, it is, of course, impossible to tell. 
There are some indications that the Board of Public 
Works and various officials of importance in Peking are 
giving the question careful consideration. Acting on a 
petition from a member of the Board of Sacrificial Wor- 
ship, the Government has recently detailed a general, who 
has distinguished himself by compelling his idle soldiers 
to clean out the filthy moats of Peking, to make a com- 
plete inspection and report of the river and its embank- 
ments. It is understood that this officer protests most 
earnestly against the order, and declares, perhaps truth- 
fully enough, that he knows absolutely nothing in regard 
to river-works or any other kind of engineering. The 
probabilities are that he is perfectly honest in this, though 
it is also possible that his merit may be even greater than 
his modesty. Be this as it may, this is a move in the right 
direction, since it sends one man to take a comprehensive 
view of the whole situation, the result of which must be 
in some degree better than what has gone before.* 

* See note, p. 244. 



THE YELLOW RIVER GAN BE BRIDGED. 255 

At the time of my visit to the river, which was during 
the season of the lowest water, instead of finding it spread 
out over the plains, and having no well-defined bed be- 
tween Lung-mun-Kou and Yu-shan, as was reported to be 
the case by Mr. Ney Elias, and as has been shown for 
many years on all the principal maps, I found that it 
had gradually made for itself a new channel with shores 
from five to ten feet in height, and that it was otherwise 
assuming the characteristics throughout that portion of 
its course which it has above and below. 

I have not seen the river during flood, but can well 
imagine that it appears altogether different at such times, 
and yet I do not doubt that it can be bridged and crossed 
by a railroad at almost any point, or that the railroad can 
be maintained without any extraordinary trouble or ex- 
pense. There are several places in the province of Shan- 
tung where natural abutments may be had, and which 
are otherwise favorable for bridging, and also for obtain- 
ing an abundant supply of stone for riprapping or paving 
the approaches, so as to protect them from the action of 
the water. 

A great flood, devastating a wide extent of country 
near Kaifung f u, in the province of Honan, took place 
during the rainy season of 1887. It resulted in another 
change of the river from its old bed, but this time to the 
southward. The breach in its embankment was repaired 
after incredible effort and expense, and the river was thus 
compelled to resume its former bed to the sea. 



OHAPTEE XVII. 

Visit to the city of Kai-fung-fu — The immense number of wheelbarrows 
on the road — The curiosity of the citizens — Difficulty of securing an 
inn — Inn-yard invaded by the mob — Visit of the officials from the 
yamen — Mob finally driven out — Respectable merchant compelled to 
crawl out under the gate — Call of two young officials from the gov- 
ernor's yamen — Tung-ming district— Approach to the Shantung hills 
— Cross the Grand Canal at Chi-ning-Chou — Visit to Chii-fu, the 
home and burial-place of Confucius — The " Ever-Sacred Duke " and 
his descendants — The Grand Pavilion and grounds — The avenue — 
The Confucian cemetery — The tomb of the sage — Burning of the 
Confucian residence — Singular superstition in regard to it — Visit 
to Taishan, the sacred mountain of China — Ascent of the mount- 
ain — Beautiful scenery — Temples and shrines — Eeturn to the 
Grand Canal and journey to Chi-nan-fu — American Presbyterian 
mission — But few Chystian converts — Superiority of technical in- 
struction — Influence of war, commerce, and the missionaries — The 
city of Chi-nan-fu — The Yellow River again — Navigable from Chi- 
nau-fu to the sea — Chinese are ignorant of science in the work of 
controlling the floods — Journey back to Tientsin— Old embankments 
— The country — Mission at Pang-Chia-Chwang — Case of first convert 
— Chinese New- Year — Ancestral worship — New- Year's dinner — Lost 
in a dust-storm — Dreariness of the Great Plain — Not over-populated 
— Condition of the people — The Yellow River can be crossed by 
railroads — Return to Peking — Received by the Tsung-li Yamen. 

Our visit to Kai-fung-fu was the first one made by 
foreigners for many years ; as a consequence, we attracted 
great attention — far too much, in fact, for our own 
comfort. The city covers a large area, is surrounded by 
the usual high brick wall surmounted by a crenelated 



VISIT TO EAI-FUNG-FU. 257 

parapet, and furnislied with buttresses, turrets, ponder- 
ous gates, moats, and all the appliances of the Chinese 
middle ages. It also has a thirteen -storied pagoda, built 
of brown brick, and presents a grand but somewhat bar- 
baric appearance from a distance. On a closer approach, 
it is seen to be, like other interior Chinese cities, dirty, 
dilapidated, and decaying, and yet it is, perhaps justly, 
regarded as a place of great importance. It contains a 
population estimated at five hundred thousand souls, and 
is the capital of the province of Honan, which is noted for 
the roughness of its people and its hostility to everything 
foreign. 

As we approached it we were struck by the immense 
number of wheelbarrows we passed on the road carrying 
coal from the river. Each one of these curious vehicles 
was drawn by a donkey and pushed by a man, who held 
the handles and balanced the barrow and its load of three 
or four hundred pounds by means of a strap passing over 
his shoulders. We must have seen over a thousand, and 
all were screeching like a high-pressure steam gauge-cock. 
It is said that no barrow-man will have or use one of this 
particular class unless it screeches, and the more unearthly 
the sound the better it is liked, as it is supposed to be 
good fung-shuy. 

We entered the main gate on the north side at noon 
of January 8, 1886, but were promptly stopped at the 
custom- or guard-house, just inside the wall. Our man- 
darin, however, dismounted, and, after making the proper 
explanation and exhibiting our Chinese passports, during 
which a crowd began to gather and gaze at us, we were 
permitted to pass on. 

Our route at first lay through a rather thinly settled 
suburb, if any part of a city within the walls can be called 
a suburb, but soon led us into one of the principal streets, 
straight and broad, through which we made our way. 



258 cnmA. 

somewhat after the manner of the grand entry of a circus 
into an American town. Our mandarin, wearing his of- 
ficial hat, and accompanied by the interpreter, rode ahead, 
followed by Mr. Nichols and myself abreast. Behind us 
came Hsieh-S'z (Aleck) and two mounted mafoos, and then 
the six carts well closed up ; but no circus ever had a larger 
or more curious audience than we soon had. How the 
news spread it is impossible to say, but spread it certainly 
did, for in an incredibly short time we had hundreds of 
men and boys in our train, and the shop-fronts, sidewalks, 
and door-steps were crowded by people staring at us as we 
passed. In this manner we threaded our way for over a 
mile, when we came to an inn, which we turned into ; 
but the landlord, seeing the crowd following us, and per- 
haps fearing annoyance, at once told our mandarin that 
his house was full, and he could not accommodate us. 
Solicitation was in vain, and there was nothing left for 
us but to go farther. At the next inn, which was only 
a short distance beyond, we received the same answer ; 
but we resolved to stay in the court-yard till our people 
had found an inn for us, and this we did, the center of 
a gaping but respectful crowd. Men and boys closed in 
around our horses and gazed at our boots, trousers, coats, 
and caps, our gloves, whips, and saddles, one after the 
other, but all in silent admiration, which we submitted 
to with pretty nearly as much interest as our visitors. 

In the course of ten minutes, our ^'^ Number One" 
mafoo returned with the gratifying intelligence that Li 
(the interpreter) had found an inn which was at our dis- 
posal. We therefore resumed our procession through the 
street, and after a short time entered a cross-street, where, 
within a square, we found our quarters ; and, turning 
hastily into them, had the gates closed in the hope that 
we should thus get rid of the crowd. In this we were 
partly successful at first, but, as it was necessary to open 



CURIOSITY OF THE PEOPLE. 259 

the gates for the carts, the crowd, which had now gath- 
ered in strength, rushed in, and before the carts could be 
unloaded the outer court-yard was filled to overflowing. 
Li and the servants made an effort to expel the intruders, 
and succeeded in doing so and closing the gates ; but 
shortly afterward the carters opened the gates again to 
turn the mules into the street for water and to roll, and 
as the mules returned the crowd came in with them. 
Seeing the futility of trying to keep them out of the outer 
court, the servants retreated to the door of the inner 
court, and made a determined effort to hold it. In this 
they were successful for a half-hour. Meanwhile we had 
sent Wang-Fuyeh with our passports to the governor- 
general's yamen, with instructions to say that, if agree- 
able to him, we should call and pay our respects, and, so 
far as might be necessary, explain the object of our travel- 
ing in that part of Honan. 

We had already been informed by a young mandarin 
connected with the yamen, who had crossed the river with 
us, that the governor-general was only temporarily hold- 
ing the office, that he was not well, and that a new gov- 
ernor-general was expected soon ; hence we anticipated 
that it might not be convenient for him to receive us, and 
instructed Wang-Fuyeh to say, in that case, that we were 
examining the Yellow Eiver and its embankments, and 
would like to have a safeguard through Honan into the 
province of Shantung, together with a detachment of 
policemen or soldiers to protect our inn and relieve us of 
the unwelcome attentions of the crowd of men and boys 
who were gathering there. 

During the absence of our messenger they continued 
to collect in the outer court, which was now densely 
packed, and to press upon the inner gateway. Finally, 
through the persistency and activity of the boys in front, 
and of the pressure of the men behind, and perhaps also 



260 CHINA. 

through the relaxed yigilance of our servants, they suc- 
ceeded in unhinging the gate and gained admission into 
the inner court, around the farther end of which our- 
selves and servants had been assigned to rooms. The 
first thing which attracted their attention, and seemed in 
some degree to satisfy their curiosity, was '' Ferguson," 
our big Chinese cook, with his charcoal-fire and his pots 
and pans, preparing dinner. This was evidently a rare 
treat to them, and enabled our men to hold them in 
check opposite the kitchen-door, about twelve feet from 
our own, for perhaps twenty minutes ; but during this 
time the pressure from behind Id creased, and the inner 
court-yard, which was only thirty-six feet long by twelve 
wide, became crowded to suffocation. Li, Hsieh-S'z 
(Aleck), and the three "boys," aided at times by Fergu- 
son, screamed them.selves hoarse and exhausted all their 
strength in their efforts to expel the intruders without 
doing them bodily harm. Our visitors had but little to 
say, but with wide-open eyes and gaping mouths they 
pressed each other steadily forward, recoiling whenever 
the servants made a threatening rush at them, and then, 
as the servants retreai?ed, edging a little farther into the 
open space just outside of our door, which was closed and 
covered by a cotton-cloth portiere. At this juncture one 
of the servants, seeing that they would reach the door and 
break their way in unless they were turned away, came 
inside and said that the crowd, who had never seen a for- 
eigner before, simply wanted to look at us, and that if we 
would go outside and show ourselves, perhaps they would 
scatter and go home ; whereupon we walked out among 
them, and, after standing a minute or two to be gazed at, 
went forward, and by motions and gesticulations, aided 
by the servants, cleared the inner court-yard and half the 
outer one. There is no doubt that we should have got 
them entirely outside, but, just as Mr. Nichols had pressed 



CURIOSITY OF TEE PEOPLE. 261 

his way througli to the street, Wang-Fuyeh returned from 
the yamen, and we both went back with him to our 
room to hear his report. The servants, seeing that we 
had gone in, gave up the struggle, and the crowd surged 
in after them. 

The governor-general received our messenger very 
politely, but said it would not be necessary for us to call, 
unless we had something important to communicate, and 
he would not call on us because he had sore eyes, but 
would send one of his mandarins to give us such assist- 
ance as we might require. He also said he would send a 
guard at once. Wang-Fuyeh had scarcely finished his 
report, when a mandarin, wearing the crystal button and 
peacock's feather, and clad in silk and furs, made his 
appearance, accompanied by his chairmen and retainers, 
bearing high umbrellas and spears, and wearing official 
hats, and all this state was to bring the governor-general's 
return cards. After leaving them he departed hastily, 
and the multitude lost no time in pressing into the inner 
court and up to our door again. We gathered our serv- 
ants once more and drove the crowd back, nearly to the 
street, when we were again stopped in the full tide of 
victory by the coming of a still more stately mandarin, 
with banners and umbrellas, and a larger and more showy 
retinue. It would not comport with Chinese etiquette to 
be caught out of our quarters or engaged in such an oc- 
cupation by a distinguished visitor, so we returned to our 
room and received him with all the state we could assume. 
On entering he bowed and saluted us politely, in the 
usual Chinese way, by clasping his hands and raising 
them to his face, and we returned his greeting in the 
same manner, after which we showed him to a seat, and 
a short conversation followed. He told us he had been 
sent by the governor-general, to ask us what assistance 
we required. Being a bright and intelligent man, he took 



262 CEmA. 

in the situation at once, apologized for the roughness of 
the people of Kai-fung-fu, and said he would explain to 
them that we meant them no harm, but had come on a 
friendly mission. He intimated, perhaps by direction of 
the governor-general, that as soon as we were rested and 
had got such supplies as we desired, we had better resume 
our journey. Before taking his leave he directed one of 
his own attendants to remain with us, and said he would 
send a guard without delay to drive out our unwelcome 
visitors and keep order. The single man left with us did 
his level best to hold the inner gate against the increas- 
ing pressure from without, but he was overpowered and 
pressed back like the rest, and finally folded his hands in 
despair. Our servants still stood their ground as best 
they could, but were at last pressed back against our 
door. It was now nearly half -past five, and no policemen 
had yet made their appearance. 

The most venturesome of the crowd had gained our 
windows, and begun poking holes through the paper panes 
for the purpose of looking in, and thereupon, having lost 
all patience, we sallied out for the last time, and went 
for the " heathen Chinee " in a way they were not slow to 
understand. Our servants and carters came to our assist- 
ance manfully, and even the solitary policeman plucked 
up courage to pitch in. By dint' of pushing, yelling, and 
gesticulating, aided perhaps by fear on the part of the 
crowd, we gradually pushed those in front back upon 
those in the rear so vigorously that, in the course of ten 
minutes, we had got the court-yards nearly clear. In the 
midst of our most vigorous onset, we found ourselves sud- 
denly re-enforced by a detachment of six or eight police- 
men, with the chief of police at their head, and this re- 
enforcement was less gentle in its treatment of the in- 
truders than we had been ; but it was quite noticeable 
that there was no clubbing, as would have been the case 



CURIOSITY OF THE PEOPLE. 263 

with an American mob that would not "move on." In 
a few minutes afterward we had the court-yard cleared 
and the gates barred ; but the crowd still remained in 
the street and made one or two efforts to regain its lost 
ground, but in vain. In this bloodless contest men lost 
their hats and shoes, and the boys were knocked over and 
trampled upon. Several of them cried most lustily, and 
there was a babel of yelling and shouting, as is generally 
the case with a Chinese crowd, but, so far as we could 
make out, nobody was angry, or inspired by any other 
motive than that of gratifying an insatiable and ravenous 
curiosity. 

There seemed to be all sorts and conditions of men in 
the crowd. Many of them were well-dressed and intelli- 
gent in appearance, and all appeared to be good-natured 
and amiable. The last out was evidently a respectable 
merchant or shopkeeper, wearing his best hat and new 
silk gown ; but when he got to the gate it was closed and 
barred, so the chief of police, instead of opening it, made 
him get down into the dust and crawl under it, much to 
his disgust, but to the great delight of the crowd outside. 

It was now about six o'clock, and quiet and order 
reigned at last in our court-yard. The chief of police 
and his men fraternized at once with our attendants, 
and assured us we should have no more unbidden visitors. 
Later in the evening, after we had received cards and a 
friendly message from the local prefect or magistrate, and 
all the members of our guard had duly inspected us and 
our belongings while at dinner, two sub-officials were 
brought in, bearing with them the paper-seals, half as big 
as an ordinary newspaper, which they said they were going 
to paste on our outer gates, as a sure protection from all 
further annoyance. These two young men were very 
nicely dressed, and seemed to be quite civil and obliging, 
but, like the rest, they lingered as long as possible, evi- 



264 cnmA. 

dentlj for tlie jourpose of gratifying their own curiosity. 
We finally got rid of them by giving them all the lumps 
of cut-loaf sugar we had left on our dinner-table. We 
had a quiet night, but not caring to repeat the experi- 
ences we had gone through, and fearing that the indis- 
cretion of a servant might turn the current of curiosity 
into one of anger, and thus lead to a real mob, we left at 
daylight the next morning, with the chief of police as 
our guide, before the crowd had time to gather again. 
It would have been impossible for us to go in or out of 
our inn, or for shopkeepers and curio-dealers to bring 
their wares to us ; and as we had received all the help, 
and got all the information we wanted from the yamen, 
we thought it best to resume our journey. 

From Kai-fung-f u we traveled eastward to Lung-mun- 
Kou, where the Yellow River changed its course in 1853- 
'54, and, after inspecting that place and making such 
measurements and observations as the means at our dis- 
posal would permit, we turned northeastward along the 
general course of the river to Tung-ming, in the lower 
part of the province of Ohihli, where a disastrous breach 
occurred in the embankment last summer. 

We had no adventures on the way worthy of record, 
unless we except the fact that I came near being swal- 
lowed up in the quicksand, or rather the '^ quick mud" 
(for there is no sand in this part of the Yellow River), as 
we were leveling up from the water's edge to the bottom 
of the old bed of the river. I broke through the frozen 
crust of an exceedingly soft place and went down ^^by 
the run," but, having had some experience in that sort 
of thing before, struggled on to hard ground without 
assistance, and indeed without my danger having been 
discovered until it was all over. 

The breach at Tung-ming had been thoroughly re- 
paired by the construction of a new and very strong em- 



A LAWLESS region: 265 

bankment, reyetted with bundles of millet-stalks laid butt- 
ends outward, and bound into the earth by ropes fastened 
to cross- timbers resting against the face of the reyetment. 
This region was further protected by the construction of 
a new embankment a mile or so from the riyer. It was 
noticeable not only because it was of full section and good 
alignment, but particularly because it was finished with 
the only properly planned road-crossing we saw in all our 
travels. The country in this region was said to have 
been infested by robbers, and one of our attendants told 
us that three had been captured, at or near Tung-ming- 
Chi, and executed, and that he had seen the head of one 
of them in a cage, hanging on a tree, outside the town. 
We saw nothing of the kind, and, in fact, nothing which 
indicated the presence of robbers, except two men, one 
mounted and the other on foot, both armed, and running 
rapidly as far as we could see them. Our mandarin as- 
sured us that they were highwaymen ; and, since return- 
ing to Tientsin, we have been informed that the region 
in question (Tsou-Chou) is one of the most lawless in 
China, and that soldiers are quartered at various points 
in it for the purpose of suppressing the robbers and 
maintaining order. 

Turning almost directly east toward the Grand Canal, 
we found both roads and inns fairly good ; but the coun- 
try presented the same unbroken dead level, the same 
mud-built villages, the same endless succession of plowed 
and fallow fields, broken here and there by scattered 
graves or by a family burying-ground, surrounded by a 
grove of yew or cypress trees, till we caught sight of the 
higher peaks of the western hills of Shantung looming up 
on the horizon like an island seen from the deck of a ship. 

Our course toward them resembled the track of a ship 
beating against a head-wind ; and what made the simili- 
tude still greater was that new islands were seen far away 
13 



266 CHINA, 

to the south, and afterward the faint outline of a distant 
coast rising on the horizon showed itself as we continued 
our western course. The first hill, or island — for it was 
as much an island as if it had been surrounded by water 
instead of by plain — which we came to was a bald, barren 
mass of stratified limestone two or three hundred feet 
high, and covered on the western side by a village built 
of stone, surrounded by a weather-beaten stone wall, with 
a crenelated parapet on top. 

The wall ran straight up the hill-side and along its 
summit, and there was something about both wall and 
village which clearly betokened that some time in the 
lapse of ages past they had seen better days. The scene 
was not only picturesque, but in such noticeable contrast 
with the dead level of the plains we had been traveling 
over for so long, that we unpacked the camera and took 
two photographs of it. Farther on, the "coast-line" 
receded before us, and, sweeping around to the south- 
ward and westward, to another hill abreast of the first 
one, also surmounted by a village and castellated ruins, 
appeared to inclose a beautiful landlocked bay. 

We continued our march along the foot of the hills to 
our left, skirting the shore, as it were, and admiring the 
beautiful scene in the bright sunlight, but in two or three 
hours the distant coast-line had resolved itself into a 
series of detached hills, rising sharply up from the level 
of the plain. Threading our way through them, we 
reached the Grand Canal beyond them at about two 
o'clock, and by four had reached Ohi-ning-Chou, a city 
of one hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants. Like all 
the others, it is surrounded by a brick wall of great height 
and thickness, surmounted by a crenelated parapet, and 
furnished with sally-ports, gates, buttresses, and turrets, 
but all fast going to decay. 

A withering blight seems to have stricken them as 



THE HOME OF CONFUCIUS. 267 

well as the business of the city they inclose. This city is 
situated on the Grand Canal, and was doubtless once the 
seat of a great commerce, which has decayed as the canal 
has become more and more difficult to navigate. There 
is an imperial telegraph-station here, the second on the 
line south of Tientsin, and about two hundred and forty 
miles from the first one. Halting here oyer night, and 
sending telegrams to Tientsin and Shanghai to apprise 
our friends of our safety, and to get the news, we pushed 
on the next day to Yen-Chou, and the day after to Chii- 
f u, the home of the Kung family, the descendants of Con- 
fucius, the ^^ immortal sage and philosopher" of China. 
On our arrival we selected the best inn we could find, and 
made preparations to remain several days. 

The city of Kii-fu is the seat of a district magistracy, 
or liHien, and is situated near the eastern edge of the Great 
Plain, in sight of the hills. Like every other Chinese 
town of its class, it is surrounded by a high brick wall, 
furnished with a crenelated parapet, buttresses, turrets, 
moats, and gates, which are closed every night. It con- 
tains within the walls the ducal residence and the pavil- 
ions, temples, and tablets sanctified in every Chinaman's 
eyes, as far as anything can be sanctified, by their associa- 
tion with the name and worship of Confucius, their great 
lawgiver and teacher. 

I sent Wang-Fuyeh immediately after our arrival to 
the magistrate's yamen with our cards, and the informa- 
tion that we should call to pay our respects at such hour 
as would best suit his convenience. He received our 
messenger with great politeness, and explained that he 
was just starting into the country to be gone till night, 
but would on his return communicate further with us. 

Early in the evening he sent his cards to us, with the 
information that he would be glad to receive us at any 
hour the next day which would best suit our convenience. 



268 cnmA. 

and would arrange for us to see the Confucian temples, 
and also, if possible, for an interview with the young 
Kung, the ^'^ Ever-Sacred Duke" of the Chinese, and the 
seventy-sixth direct lineal male descendant of the sage. 
This, of course, gives him an authentic genealogy reaching 
further back into the past than any man living, and makes 
him a great curiosity on that account, if nothing more. 
It will be remembered that Confucius was born 551 years 
before Christ. Having named ten o'clock for our call 
upon the magistrate, he sent a mounted escort to conduct 
us through the streets to the yamen, so that we got there 
at the appointed time without delay or annoyance, and 
were received at once with every mark of respect and 
friendly consideration. We found the prefect, or magis- 
trate, a special friend of the Viceroy Li, to be a mandarin 
of the crystal button, about fifty years of age. He was 
clad in black silk and furs, and was surrounded by his 
official servants. He greeted us cordially, after the usual 
Chinese form, and, after asking our ages and other ques- 
tions, m accordance with the rules of Chinese etiquette, 
he sent our cards to the "Ever-Sacred Duke," with the 
request that he would grant us an audience. 

While the messenger was gone, the magistrate informed 
us that the present Duke was a boy only fourteen years 
old, engaged in his studies under the tutorship and direc- 
tion of his uncle, and would therefore probably decline to 
grant us an audience. During the absence of the mes- 
senger, who was gone about an hour, we conversed with 
the magistrate in regard to the condition of the canal and 
of the country in that part of the province. We were 
somewhat surprised to learn that no silk is grown, and no 
manufacturing of any kind carried on nearer than Chi-nan- 
fu. The people devote themselves exclusively to agricul- 
ture, the principal articles of which are wheat and cotton. 

As the magistrate had intimated, the guardian of the 



TEE ''EYER-SAGRED DURE:'' 269 

young Duke sent word that we could not be received by 
his ward ; but that the temples and grounds would be 
opened for our visit, and that a member of the family 
would receive and conduct us through them. We accord- 
ingly took leave of the magistrate, and, escorted by two 
of his subordinate officers and a squad of mounted and 
dismounted soldiers, we rode to the northwest quarter of 
the city, which is separated from the rest of the city by a 
high brick wall, inclosing the Confucian temples, which 
occupy the site of the sage's home, academy, well, shade- 
trees, and favorite walks. We entered the grounds 
through a high gateway, and walked down an avenue of 
fine old cypress, fir, and yew trees to the official recep- 
tion-room, into which a servant showed us, and, after 
serving tea, left us to await the coming of the Duke's 
representative. While we were waiting, a crowd of men 
and boys, who had entered the grounds with us, pushed 
up to the door and windows, eager to see the foreigners. 
They were quiet and respectful ; but, as they could not all 
look through the door at one time, some of them punched 
holes through the paper window-panes, without reference 
to the fact that they were the private property of the 
"Ever-Sacred Duke." One big boy took particular de- 
light, as is the custom the world over, in twigging the 
ears and queue of a smaller boy in front, and in otherwise 
annoying him. The little fellow seemed to take it all as 
a matter of course, and never once lost his temper, though 
his patience was sorely tried. 

After half or three quarters of an hour, we were in- 
formed that the mandarin had come, and would receive 
us at the entrance to the outer pavilion of the main tem- 
ple, to which place we were led by the official servants of 
the place, and followed by our own attendants. Our 
path was through a back and crooked path between houses 
and walls for three or four hundred feet ; but it brought 



270 CHINA. 

us out in front of a large pavilion, under whicli we were 
received by a mandarin of great dignity, elegantly dressed, 
and wearing on his official hat a blue or amethyst button 
and peacock's feather. We at first supposed him to be 
the uncle and guardian of the young Duke, but afterward 
learned that he was a more distant relative, having charge 
of the temple, cemetery, and grounds. He received us 
with urbanity and dignity, saluting us in the usual Chi- 
nese fashion, and showing us to seats near a table on which 
tea was served at once. After a short conversation, during 
which he told us we were at liberty to take photographs of 
whatever we pleased, he escorted us through the grounds 
to the Grand Pavilion, in which is an effigy of Confucius 
seated on a throne, raised four or five feet above the floor, 
and draped with beautifully embroidered lambrequins and 
curtains of yellow satin. A tablet surmounts the throne 
inscribed with Chinese characters, which are translated, 
" The most prescient sage, Confucius, his spirit's resting- 
place." In front of the throne are two tables, on which 
are placed several copper vases of elegant design, enameled 
with blue and green ^figures on a yellow ground, and also 
several bronze tripods, urns, and sacrificial vases, said to be 
very old, some of them, it is alleged, dating from eleven 
hundred to twenty-three hundred years before Christ ; but 
their appearance does not indicate any such antiquity. 

The hall contains statues of the son and grandson of 
Confucius, besides those of Mencius, with his principal 
disciples, and of twelve other worthies distinguished in 
Chinese story. They are arranged around the wall and 
across the ends of the grand hall, and look much brighter 
and fresher than the effigies we had seen in other temples. 
The hall is a hundred and sixty feet long, eighty-eight 
feet wide, and seventy-eight feet high, and is paneled in 
black marble, and brilliantly painted in bright colors and 
gilding, freshly laid on. 



TEE CONFUCIAN TEMPLES. 271 

The roof is supported by stately wooden columns 
and ceiled with beautiful carved wood, in the center of 
which is a dragon holding in its mouth a gray ball some 
two or two and a half inches in diameter, said to repre- 
sent the exact size and color of a veritable pearl presented 
to the temple by one of the emperors several hundred 
years ago. 

The whole place is much cleaner and in better repair 
than any other temple we have seen in China ; but withal 
it presents no striking indications that the worship of 
Confucius is a living cult. There is no doubt that his 
teachings have had a powerful influence over the Govern- 
ment of China, and in developing the civilization of the 
Chinese people, as exemplified by the educated class ; but 
it may well be doubted if the plain people know or care 
much about the "most prescient sage" or his philosophi- 
cal tea<3hing. 

The pavilion inclosing the grand hall has an exterior 
appearance quite like that of the great pavilion at the 
tomb of Yung-loh. It is surrounded by a veranda twelve 
or fifteen feet wide, supported by fifty-four monolithic 
pillars (the only ones I saw in China) twenty-five feet 
high and three feet in diameter, those in front being elab- 
orately decorated with the imperial dragon, deeply carved 
into their surface, and extending from top to bottom. 

A large part of the court in front is occupied by a 
raised platform of stone, surrounded by a marble balus- 
trade. The roof is covered with green and yellow tiles, 
and the exterior of the building, the most of which is 
wood, is also elaborately painted and carved after the 
usual Chinese style. The court is flanked on the right 
and left by long, low pavilions divided off into stalls or 
shrines, each containing a tablet sacred to the memory 
and virtues of Confucius or of some distinguished dis- 
ciple. These shrines and tablets were erected by em- 



2T2 CHmA, 

perors in times gone by, and indicate that reverence for 
the sage was formerly a more active sentiment than it is 
at present. 

We took several photographs of the front of the main 
pavilion, but, owing to the darkness within, could not 
get a view of the interior. 

The well of Confucius, walled up with rather fresh- 
looking brick, and curbed with an annular stone of any- 
thing but a venerable appearance, was pointed out to us. 
A decaying tree supported by props was shown us in an- 
other court, and is said to mark the exact place once 
occupied by the favorite shade-tree of the sage; and in 
still another court a wedge-shaped piece of brown, dingy- 
looking wood at the root of a growing tree was shown as 
the stump of a cypress, or what was left of it, which was 
flourishing at the time the sage was alive. We took sepa- 
rate photographs of the well and of the old tree, with a 
boy belonging to the Confucian family sitting under and 
against it holding a book in his hand. 

The entire grounds are thickly planted with cypresses 
and firs, and covered with pavilions and tablets so close 
together that it is impossible to get a single view of them. 
These grounds are adjacent to those of the present Duke, 
but separated from them by a high brick wall. 

The last pavilions we entered, our amiable conductor 
informed us, occupied the exact site of the house in which 
Confucius had his study and taught his disciples ; and, 
after showing us through the lower story, he led us up 
two flights of very steep stairs to the loft, where, accord- 
ing to another guide, the school was actually held. In- 
asmuch as the building is of wood, and does not differ 
architecturally from other modern Chinese buildings, we 
concluded that we were not obliged to believe the last 
guide, though he was evidently honest in what he told us. 

All of the buildings seem to have been recently painted. 



CIVILITY OF THE PREFECT 273 

and are, therefore, brighter looking than any other tem- 
ples we have seen ; but the dust and the flocks of birds 
which roost in and about them, aided by the habitual 
neglect of the Chinese, will soon deprive them of their 
brightness. 

After again drinking tea with the amiable mandarin 
who showed us about, we took leave of him, he having 
voluntarily offered to call for us in his cart at half-past 
eight the next morning and go with us to the cemetery, 
which lies about a mile and a half outside and north 
of the city wall. During the afternoon the prefect re- 
turned our call in state, and showed us every polite atten- 
tion. He sent us several pounds of excellent tea, and a 
copy of the charcoal rubbings taken from some of the 
most noted tablets ; and we reciprocated his civility by 
sending him a bottle of OuraQoa and a box of cut-loaf 
sugar, together with a small American gold coin for the 
Tai-tai, his wife. 

Having spent a comfortable night in a very fair inn, 
we were up betimes and just ready to start for the ceme- 
tery, when a messenger arrived from the magistrate with 
the information that the Confucian mandarin could not 
join us, as the house of the young Duke had caught fire, 
and was then burning. Sending our cards with our re- 
grets, and offering our help if we could be of any service 
whatever, we rode at once to the cemetery, which is con- 
nected with the city by an avenue of noble but sadly 
neglected yew and cypress trees. Standing on the road- 
side, with no other trees near them, the northern winds 
have full sweep at them, and have wrenched and torn 
them till not one is left with its proper natural shape. 
Curiously enough, too, the broken trunks and limbs have 
not been cut off in any instance, but are left standing, 
to decay and disfigure the trees which might otherwise 
appear to great advantage. Unless they are looked after 



274 CHINA, 

better than they have been so far, it will be but a few 
years till the avenue falls into complete ruin. 

On the way we passed under or through a beautiful 
marble pailow spanning the road, and a short distance 
beyond entered the outer gate, which is connected with 
the inner gate of the cemetery by a continuation of the 
avenue, and with a high brick wall on either side. The 
gates are covered by the usual pavilions, and the ceme- 
tery itself is inclosed by a brick wall surmounting an 
earthen embankment. The area inclosed is from forty 
to fifty acres, thickly planted with Chinese forest-trees, 
beneath which ^^ heaves the turf in many a moldering 
heap." This cemetery is strictly reserved for the family, 
and contains the graves of unnumbered descendants of 
the Confucian clan. 

The grave of Confucius is within a separate inclosure, 
the entrance to which is covered by a large pavilion of 
the usual type, where the descendants of the sage come 
twice a year to offer sacrifices and worship him. A paved, 
sunken road, which runs between low retaining-walls on 
each side, leads to th§ tomb, which is a simple mound of 
earth about twenty feet high, overgrown by bushes and 
forest-trees, including an oak, from which we obtained a 
pint of acorns for propagation in America. A stone tablet, 
nearly as high as the mound, a stone table, and an urn or 
incense-burner stand in front of it. It is flanked by the 
burial-mounds of the mother, son, and grandson of Con- 
fucius, and the whole inclosure is heaped into mounds 
covering the remains of the successive heads and digni- 
taries of the family. 

West of the sage's tomb is a small pavilion, erected to 
the memory of Tze-Kung, a favorite disciple, on the spot 
where he is said to have mourned for six years, watching 
the tomb of his dearly beloved master. 

There is no special beauty in the landscape, for, al- 



TEE GONFUGIAN CEMETERY. 275 

though covered with trees, it is left in an entirely uncul- 
tivated state ; the ground looks broken, but this arises 
from the great number of mounds rather than from any 
natural undulations. There is a large ditch running 
through the southern part of the inclosure, which is 
generally dry, but carries water in the rainy season. It 
is spanned by a marble bridge of rather picturesque 
design. 

We spent the whole morning in the grounds taking 
photographs of the tomb, pavilion, and the carved stone 
figures on either side of the avenue in front of it. These 
figures are preceded by a pair of stone pillars of octagonal 
section, after which come a pair of leopards, next a pair 
of fabulous animals, and, lastly, two heroic statues, sup- 
posed to represent the ministers of state, who attend upon 
the distinguished dead. On our way out, we took photo- 
graphs of the bridge and of the pailow beyond the in- 
closure. 

During our visit to the tomb, as well as to the temple, 
we were deeply impressed by the reverence with which 
Wang-Fuyeh worshiped before the various tablets of Con- 
fucius and his most famous disciples. As he came to each 
and read the inscription, he prostrated himself on hands 
and knees, face to the floor, and, murmuring a prayer, 
knocked his forehead against the ground with a reverent 
and serious air, showing that he was sincere in what he 
was doing. 

On our return to the inn we sent him to inquire what 
damage had been done by the tire in the Duke's com- 
pound, and on Wang's return he informed us that it had 
totally destroyed the four principal buildings, together 
with all their contents, including family relics of great 
value. He also said that there was great excitement 
among the citizens about it, owing to the fact that the 
fire had started in the house occupied by the family of 



276 CHINA, 

the young Duke's uncle, his mother's brother. It seems 
that, before his father died, he directed his wife and son 
never to permit any other persons except the family serv- 
ants to live within the compound, for the reason that it 
would increase the risk of burning up the buildings and 
destroying the family relics and possessions. In spite of 
this request, and for reasons not explained, the widow 
invited her brother and family to occupy one of the 
houses, which he did at once. This was followed by 
signs and portents, and especially by the crowing of the 
Confucian cocks and hens after nightfall, which was 
looked upon as the sure precursor of some impending 
calamity. 

After the fire had completed its work of destruction, 
and it had become known that the uncle's wife had gone 
crazy from the excitement and had jumped or fallen into 
the well, from which she was rescued with great diffi- 
culty, all these omens were recalled, and were thought to 
be proof positive that the spirit of the late Duke had set 
fire to the house for the purpose of punishing his wife 
and son for their disobedience. It was, perhaps, quite 
fortunate for us that the towns-people took this view of 
the matter, for they might just as readily have attributed 
the fire to the Duke's dis]3leasure at the visitation of the 
temple and grave of Confucius by the foreigners. 

During our stay, however, in the city, we received no 
incivility except that of being stared at. Indeed, the 
people seemed quite civil, but there was nothing in their 
manners, appearance, houses, or surroundings, different 
from those of other Chinamen, notwithstanding the fact 
that many, perhaps the most of them, were descendants 
of the great sage. 

Even the servants about the reception-room, temple, 
and cemetery were exactly like those we had seen else- 
where. They were evidently a chance lot gathered up 



JOURNEY TO TEE SACRED MOUNTAIN. 277 

for the occasion, and therefore a fair sam^^le of the whole. 
Their regular occupations were doubtless toiling in the 
fields or at the wheelbarrow, for the scanty liying which 
constitutes the average Chinaman's ineyi table portion. 

Haying seen all the curiosities and points of interest 
in and about Kli-fu, we left the same afternoon for 
Taian-fu about sixty miles to the northward, for the 
purpose of yisiting the sacred mountain of China. Our 
route at first lay through the plains, but always in sight 
of the hills, which on the right were continuous, but on 
the left stood out in isolated knobs or peaks. 

After crossing the Ta-Wen-ho, a broad, clear, swift- 
flowing stream, and the only one of the kind we had seen 
since leaving Tientsin, our road led us for about ten miles 
through a depression in an outlying limestone ridge, 
overlaid by beds of loess, a yellow, clay-like earth, pecul- 
iar to the hill-regions of China, and, as before explained, 
supposed by Baron Eichthofen to be a sub-aerial deposit 
composed of dust from the arid regions of Central Asia. 

We made this part of the ride after night, and had a 
rough time of it. Our ponies were tired, and, being far 
from sure-footed, gave us several falls, but fortunately in 
soft places, so that no bones were endangered. 

Eeaching the city at about eight o'clock, we had some 
difficulty in finding a suitable inn, but, after looking at 
several, we settled down at the *^ Lien-Sheng-tien," which 
we found to be the best one we had seen in all China. It 
has both an outer and inner court-yard, and is unusually 
clean ; its rooms are paved and neatly papered, and the 
windows have glass and curtains in them. We soon had 
a good fire of charcoal, and a lot of very nice boiled 
chestnuts, which we warmed up on the edge of the char- 
coal-pan, and found a most excellent substitute for sup- 
per, which we knew would come late if at all, as our 
carts were several hours behind, and had a bad road for 



278 CHINA, 

night-driving before them. They, however, came at 
about ten o'clock. Supper and bed soon followed, and 
made us entirely comfortable. 

Having completed all our arrangements, we made an 
early start the next morning (January 22d), to climb the 
sacred mountain. Each member of our party was pro- 
vided with a chair lashed firmly to a hand-barrow, which 
was borne by two coolies, who travel abreast over all the 
steep places, both going up and coming down. As the 
chair faces the handle of the barrow, the passenger of 
course makes the trip sidewise, and this is by no means 
comfortable or reassuring at the start, especially if the 
first experience is in coming down, as it was with me. 
The chairmen carry most of the weight by means of 
straps attached to the handles of the barrow and passing 
over their shoulders, and, as they are very sure-footed and 
agile, after one has become ijsed to the motion it is pleas- 
ant and exhilarating. 

The mountain is known as " Taishan," or " Great 
Mount," and is the highest peak of a range trending gen- 
erally east and west through the Shantug promontory. 
It rises sharply from the plain or broad valley, at the 
edge of which stands the city of Taian-fu, and is cele- 
brated for its historical and religious associations. It is 
mentioned in the classics as a sanctified spot over 2,200 
years b. c. It is visited by thousands of devotees of all 
ages and both sexes yearly, but generally of the literary 
or official class, and is a truly national place of wor- 
ship, on the top or sides of which every sect has its 
temples. 

The road leads up a gorge with but few windings or 
turnings, and is well paved with blocks of undressed 
granite and porphyry. It is broken into alternate reaches 
of gently ascending ramps and flights of granite steps, and 
is furnished with a stone parapet, eighteen or twenty 



THE SACRED MOUNTAINS 279 

inches higli on the outside, and where required on both 
sides. 

An avenue of beautiful fir, cypress, and yew trees 
shades the path for the greater distance, and after that a 
few scattering pines are seen still higher up the mount- 
ain-side. None of these trees are yery old, howeyer, and 
eyen the payed roads and temples are of comparatively 
modern construction. 

At first the flights of steps are short, and the lamps 
long, but, as the path ascends, the ramps become shorter 
and the flights of steps higher and higher, till they are 
almost continuous. The rise is nearly as great as the 
tread, and hence the steps are unusually steep and hard 
to climb. The road, which is from twelve to fifteen feet 
wide, and crosses from one side of the gorge to the other 
several times, is exceedingly picturesque. It is carried 
along the face of crags, which are frequently of great 
height and beauty, and are everywhere indelibly marked 
with pious or reverential inscriptions in Chinese charac- 
ters. Temples, shrines, and pailows occur at frequent 
intervals, and the view of the plain below is not only ex- 
tensive and beautiful, but can be caught from almost 
every point, so that the ascending pilgrim or devotee, 
however great may be his fatigue, or however frequently 
he may be compelled to halt for breath, can always re- 
fresh himself with the contemplation of scenery, which of 
itself amply repays him for his toil. 

The distance from the city to the top of the gorge and 
the end of the steps is about three miles, possibly four, 
and took me four hours to climb it. There is at this spot 
a pavilion, standing on a brick foundation, through which 
the path runs by an archway, leading into the court of a 
temple, the elevation of which was found to be 4,600 feet 
above sea-level, by one of Queen's best aneroid barometers. 

From the temple to the summit of the mountain there 



280 CHIITA. 

is a road winding to the right, along the edge of a cliff, 
and this road is also lined with shrines and temples, huilt 
into the face of the mountain. 

The topmost peak is called Yu-wang-shang-to, and is 
crowned bj a small stone pavilion and tablet, said to have 
been erected by Kien-lung, from which the whole hori- 
zon can be swept, by simply turning on one's own 
ground. The view is remarkable for its breadth and 
beauty, taking in, as it does, mountain-tops, valleys, 
plains, and rivers, spread out below in almost endless suc- 
cession and variety. The height of this peak was found 
to be 5,100 feet. 

A short distance away is another eminence, rising from 
the same mountain-mass, but not so high by about twenty 
feet. It is crowned by a large temple, partly in ruins, 
which covers it entirely, and is picturesque in the extreme. 

We spent three hours examining the temples and 
taking photographs of the most beautiful views, including 
one of a remarkable inscription cut on the face of the 
rocks, and another of Wang-Fuyeh-Li, and one of our 
servants worshiping at the Lao-mu Miao, or the temple 
of the *^ Holy Mother."' This temple is mostly visited by 
women, who go there to pray that children may be grant- 
ed to them. It contains two magnificent bronze tablets, 
fourteen feet high, also erected by Kien-lung. 

It is certain that emperors, governors, and high offi- 
cials of every class, including Confucius himself, have 
visited this mountain from time immemorial, for the 
purpose of worshiping ^'the High God of Heaven and 
Earth " ; but, withal, the stones of the pathway leading 
to it do not indicate, by their smoothness, the passage of 
untold millions of feet over them. It is probable, rather, 
that while it is the temple of all the gods, as well as of 
the highest, it is visited more by the rich and educated 
than by the masses of the Chinese people. 



TEE SACRED MOUNT A IK 281 

The devotions of our attendants were quite interest- 
ing, although not materially different from the ceremo- 
nies they went through in worshiping the river-god near 
Kai-fung-fu. It consisted of burning incense, and gold 
and silver paper-money, in presence of the image of the 
god, and of prostrating themselves and knocking their 
heads against the floor, while the lonze, or priest, clad in 
somber-colored robes, stood by and called the attention of 
the divinity to the presence of the worshipers by striking 
a large and sonorous bell with a wooden mallet. 

Our descent from the mountain was made in two 
hours and a quarter, all of us riding down in the chairs, 
not only because it was much easier than walking, but 
more rapid. 

The next morning, after visiting a celebrated temple 
in the north part of the city, and finding it and its grounds 
somewhat more extensive than temples and grounds com- 
monly are, but quite as dirty and decaying as the worst 
of them, we started on our journey back to the Grand 
Canal by the valley of the Ta-Wen-ho to Tung-ping. 
Thence our route lay through An Shan and Tung Ur, 
skirting the canal to Shih-li-pu and the Yellow River to 
Chi-nan-fu. We passed through several imj^ortant cities, 
situated on the loess terraces, between the river and foot- 
hills. At one of these, called Ping Yin, we were called 
upon by two missionaries of the Church of England, 
working quietly and unobtrusively, and, it is to be feared, 
without any very encouraging results, among the com- 
mon people of that remote region. They were, however, 
deeply in earnest, and seemed hopeful and courageous, 
although they candidly admitted that so far as they knew 
they had not yet made a single convert. 

At Chi-nan-fu we found seven American Presbyterian 
missionaries— Mr. Reid, Mr. and Mrs. Burgen, Mr. and 
Mrs. Murray, Dr. and Mrs. Coltman, and Mr. Chalfant— 



282 CHINA. 

all settled and hard at work. These worthy people are en- 
couraged by several hopeful signs that they will ultimate- 
ly ^^get the thin edge of the wedge in," and make their 
mission one of great usefulness to the Chinese people. 
Mr. Reid and Mr. Burgen wear the Chinese dress, and, 
as they are good Chinese scholars besides, they are doing 
most excellent work. Mrs. Burgen has, however, made 
-the greatest progress, inasmuch as she has made the ac- 
quaintance and exchanged social civilities with a number 
of educated Chinese ladies, who have become her fast 
friends, and through whom her influence is rapidly spread- 
ing. It can not yet be said that they have made many 
converts, but the leaven is working, and it seems certain 
that, if these missions are supported and re-enforced as 
they deserve to be, they may materially assist in opening 
China to a realization of the fact that Christian civiliza- 
tion is much ahead of their own. 

If some benevolent American would send Mr. Eeid 
an assortment of our best mechanical devices, including 
a sewing-machine, a band-saw, an electrical plant for light 
and telpherage, a small steam-engine, a turning-lathe for 
wood, one for iron, a inagic lantern, and a competent 
young graduate of the Stevens Institute, or the Boston 
School of Technology, who could lecture upon these ma- 
chines, and explain the principles of modern science as 
applied to the mechanic arts, and could at the same time 
turn his hand to surveying, mineralogy, geology, and 
botany, it is believed that it would prove an invaluable 
aid to the cause of modern progress in this far-away 
land. 

There are only three influences which, so far as I can 
see, can be successfully exerted upon the Chinese people 
to awaken them to their real condition as compared with 
the people of other countries : first, war and diplomacy, 
which work spasmodically, but very effectively at times ; 



I 



THE WORK OF THE MISSION-ABIES. 283 

secondly, commerce, which has done and is doing much 
along the sea-coast ; and, thirdly, the missionaries, who 
push out into the interior armed with dogmatic religion 
and good works, are slowly making their way, though not 
nearly so much by the former as the latter. They are 
truly the advance guard of civilization ; and, while they 
carry its highest and most abstract principles to those who 
are but little fitted by habit or education to receive or 
understand them, they are surely and steadily gaining the 
confidence and regard of those among whom they are labor- 
ing. The more practical and the less abstract their work 
becomes, the more rapidly will good results flow from it. 

The city of Chi-nan-fu is beautifully situated on the 
edge of the plains, along the foot of the hills, and is 
abundantly supplied with pure water by a series of re- 
markable hot and cold springs which well up from the 
ground within the city walls, and, after supplying the 
people fully, fill the moats, and form a large creek, which 
empties into the Yellow Eiver only a few miles away. 
The population of the city is estimated at four hundred 
thousand souls, but what it really is no one knows. 

From here we turned northward, and recrossed the 
river at Chi-ho, where there was once a stone bridge across 
the Ta-ching-ho. When the Yellow Eiver took possession 
of this channel to the sea, it destroyed this bridge by cut- 
ting a new channel around its southern end. The ruins 
remained for many years, but they are now entirely ob- 
literated, and there is nothing left to mark their site 
except the half-buried pailow, which used to span the 
entrance to the bridge. 

The river at the time we crossed it was frozen hard 
both above and below the ferry, but as no one seemed to 
be crossing on the ice, and as the ferry had been kept 
open, we embarked in two good-sized junks, and were 
rowed slowly across without accident or delay. Our serv- 



284: cnmA. 

ants, however, did not consider it necessary to propitiate 
the riyer-god as they had in crossing at Kai-fung-fu. 

The elevation of the fore-shores above the surface of 
the water was nine and a half feet, and the top of the 
first embankment nineteen feet. The second embank- 
ment, about two miles farther back, seemed to be much 
stronger, and had not been recently broken, so far as we 
could learn. The site of Ohi-ho, and the country between 
the two embankments, had been overflowed to the depth 
of four feet the year before, and the country on both 
sides of the river lower down had suffered greatly from 
the same cause. 

The river at this place was from a thousand to twelve 
hundred and fifty feet wide, and, according to the testi- 
mony of the junkmen, had a navigable depth at that time 
of at least twelve feet to the bar outside its mouth. It 
could be readily navigated by good -sized steamboats, 
especially by such as are used on our Western rivers, cer- 
tainly as far as Yiishan, and, with slight improvements 
for concentrating the channel, perhaps to the great bend 
in Southwestern Shansi ; but, up to this time, much to 
the detriment of the pe(5p]e, it has been kept exclusively 
for the junks, and steamboats are not permitted to enter 
or ply upon it. There is no large city nearer its mouth 
than Chi-nan-fu, the capital of Shantung, and the coun- 
try between that place and the sea is not only thinly set- 
tled, but quite desolate. 

It is apparent that the whole work of controlling and 
regulating the river is limited to the building of embank- 
ments, and the opening of side-channels to facilitate the 
discharge of flood-water. Those having the subject in 
hand seem to have no idea of the advantage to be gained 
by meteorological observations and reports from the coun- 
try drained by the river, and make no adequate study of 
the downfall of rain, the volume and rapidity of discharge, 



NEQLEGT OF TEE EMBANKMENTS. 285 

the coming of floods, the cross-section and slope of the 
water-snrface, or even of the proper location, construc- 
tion, and care of the embankments. Nothing has yet 
been done to remove obstructions, or to increase the aver- 
age capacity of the natural channel. Indeed, the whole 
Chinese system of river-engineering is exceedingly crude. 
There is no element of science in it, and, while much of 
their embankment is excellent, it is on the whole so neg- 
lected that nothing else except failure is possible. 

In the journey back to Tientsin, which required six 
and a half days, the distance being not far from two hun- 
dred and forty miles, we crossed a number of depressions 
corresjDondiug to lines on the maps re23resenting rivers, 
but the most of which were dry, and evidently are not 
running streams except during the rainy season. About 
fifty miles north of Ohi-ho we crossed the Lao-Hwang-ho, 
which had been occupied by the Yellow Eiver about nine 
hundred years ago. It is one thousand feet wide by 
measurement^, and contains some water, which has a per- 
ceptible current. It doubtless connects with and carries 
off water from the Yellow Eiver during freshets, but its 
most remarkable feature is that the old embankments, 
built to confine the water when it was occupied by the 
Yellow Eiver itself, are situated immediately on its shores, 
and are twenty-two feet high, or about double the height 
of the embankments built nowadays. They are from 
fifty to sixty feet wide on top, and three hundred and 
ninety feet at the base. Another thing worthy of observa- 
tion is that this river-bed, so far as I could discover, is 
not silted up at all. This is conclusively shown by the 
fact that the surface of the water in it was at the time 
we crossed it about ten feet below the general surface of 
the country, as measured by the hand-level. At the time 
these embankments were built, which may have been a 
thousand or even fifteen hundred years ago, it was evi- 



286 CHINA. 

dently tlie practice to locate them close to the river-front, 
to give them much greater height and thickness, and 
possibly to watch them much more carefully than is done 
nowadays. 

It has been recently proposed to cut a canal into this 
old river-bed and build a series of sluices across it, so that 
the Yellow River can be relieved at will, by turning its 
surplus water into it ; and the Board of Works has, ac- 
cording to the '^Peking Gazette," approved the project. 

The country from a few miles north of the Yellow 
River to the neighborhood of Ter-chou, on the Grand 
Canal, is apparently drier, better drained, and better cul- 
tivated than it is farther west, closer to the line of the 
canal ; and this is as it should be. It is farther away 
from both the river and the canal, and, even if a breach 
occur in the embankment of either, the flood-water must 
spread out and get shallower as it approaches the region 
in question, although its real elevation above sea-level 
may be no greater than that of the country at the river- 
bank. The villages in this region are also more flourish- 
ing in appearance than they are along the canal, but they 
are all built of sun-drifed bricks, and are otherwise like 
innumerable other villages in the Great Plain. It was in 
this portion of my travels that I saw men wheeling coal 
in a barrow two hundred miles from the mines ! They 
were aided by donkeys and small sails, but the toil seemed 
to be of killing severity. 

There is a flourishing American mission in this region, 
at a town called Pang-Ohia-Ohwang. It has an excellent 
hospital and school attached, and has gained much favor 
with the simple-minded natives by the success and kind- 
liness of its medical and surgical ministrations, which 
are, of course, free to all comers. 

I was naturally curious to know how a mission came to 
be located at such an insignificant country village, far off 



A CEmESE CONVERT. 237 

the Mgliways, and with nothing particular to distinguish 
it from a thousand other villages just like it ; and the fol- 
lowing is the explanation : It seems that one of the earlier 
missionaries made a convert among the common people of 
this region, who by his zeal and intelligence induced the 
missionary to locate in his native village, where he was 
head-man. Other missionaries came, then the school, and 
then the hospital followed. The first convert grew in a 
worldly way with the mission, if not in grace, and in the 
course of time came to look upon it as his personal appa- 
nage. He became a sort of village boss, a great man among 
his neighbors, and brought many of them into the fold ; 
but, having been the first convert, he also claimed to be 
first in all contracts and business for the mission, and like 
nearly everybody else. Christian as well as heathen, when 
he found he had a good thing he grew grasping and ava- 
ricious, and it is said '^ squeezed" the missionaries harder 
than they thought proper or honest. A contract for haul- 
ing brick and sand was given out, and perhaps for other 
work also, but, instead of the first convert's getting it, it 
was given to another, who had made a lower bid for it. 
The first convert claimed it as his ''pidgi7i^' (business) by 
right, without regard to price, and his neighbors, according 
to their light, sided with him and against the new man. 
The missionaries stood firm, however. The villagers then 
boycotted them and their new man, whereupon they ap- 
pealed to the district magistrate, and had the first con- 
vert arrested and thrown into prison. This made matters 
worse ; the common people could not understand why the 
first convert should not have the business, which, accord- 
ing to all Chinese custom and precedent, was his. They 
looked upon his arrest as arbitrary and unjustifiable, and 
they stood by him to a man. The missionaries then ap- 
pealed to the American consul at Tientsin ; he appealed 
to the Viceroy Li, and the latter sustained the mission- 



288 CEIXA. 

aries. But that did not end the trouble. The first con- 
vert was released, or permitted to go home on a holiday. 
That night the missionary stable was burned, and, although 
there was no proof, suspicion fell upon him, and he was 
again arrested. Excitement grew apace, and, when I last 
heard of the case, the missionaries were calling loudly for 
the deportation of the first convert as the only way of 
restoring quiet. Both parties had become uncharitable 
and unreasonable. The missionaries seem to have carried 
the matter too far, and would have done better not to 
stand out so strongly against the ^'^ squeezing" of their 
first convert ; and it is entirely clear that the latter had 
failed to appreciate the essence of Christianity, and, with 
all his protestations and apparent zeal, was still a grasp- 
ing heathen at heart. It is to be feared that most of the 
Chinese converts experience a change of belief for busi- 
ness rather than spiritual reasons, and come late in life, 
if ever, to that perfect sincerity of faith '' which passeth 
all understanding." 

From Ter-chou north our route was almost identical 
with the one pursued going south. It was free from in- 
cidents of special interest, except that we lost our road in 
the middle of a field on the open plain, while following 
the imperial highway, and this was in broad daylight. 
It was in a region where the roads are particularly soft in 
the rainy season, and every one is at liberty to select a 
path for himself. In the dry season they all look alike, 
and are vague and ill-defined. 

Chinese New- Year, which is the most important holi- 
day, overtook us on February 4th, while we were jour- 
neying northward. The people were all out in their best 
clothes, the shops were shut, and the men and boys were 
afield in the early morning worshiping at the graves of 
their ancestors. The women and girls seem to take no 
part in this ceremony, and it is simple enough for the 



CHINESE NEW-TEAR, 289 

men and boys. They carry out a sheet or two of gilt and 
silyer paper, with a few incense-sticks, and, after making 
a burnt-offering of them in front of the grave-mound, 
they prostrate themselves, knock their foreheads against 
the ground, and then, setting off a bunch of lire-crackers 
to frighten away the evil spirits, they return home to 
spend the day in jollification. The whole ceremony lasts 
but a few minutes, and seems to.be gone through with in 
the most perfunctory manner. 

On that day we made an early halt, and gave the serv- 
ants the best dinner the country could furnish, with 
samschu, or millet-wine, in abundance. As soon as din- 
ner was over, they sent out for a singing-girl, who came 
dressed in her best, bringing her samisen, a stringed in- 
strument, something like a banjo, and, seating herself on 
the hang of Wang-Fuyeh's room, sang and played ac- 
companiments for Wang's singing all the afternoon in a 
manner very acceptable to her audience. She seemed to 
be a modest, well-behaved, obliging girl of good family, 
who was simply availing herself of the opportunity grant- 
ed by the custom of the country, to make a little money 
for her dowery by singing to travelers. 

On the last night of our return journey we were met 
by Captain Higginson, of the United States gunboat 
Monocacy, about twenty miles out, with our mail for the 
last two months. The next morning we made an early 
start for Tientsin, but the north wind had risen, and was 
carrying clouds of dust with it. By eight o'clock it was 
blowing a strong gale, and was very cold. The dust soon 
became so dense as to obscure the sun, and render it im- 
possible for us to see the road. Traveling became almost 
impracticable, and would have been entirely so but for a 
pocket compass, which enabled us to keep in the right gen- 
eral direction. Anxious to get in by noon, we pushed on, 
the wind blowing our fur hoods off, cutting our faces like 
14 



290 csmA. 

razors, and every now and then almost lifting us from our 
saddles. Our calculation was to strike the Taku road 
east of Tientsin, and thus reach the settlement by the 
shortest route ; but we soon lost our road entirely in the 
blinding clouds of dust, and then had to depend entirely 
upon the compass, which it was difficult to use in the 
high wind. Knowing that there was a large, shallow pond 
and marsh, several miles across, south of Tientsin, and 
fearing that we would strike it, we changed our direction 
to the westward, and at eleven o'clock found ourselves on 
a telegraph-road, running nearly north and south. After 
following it for a while we recognized it as the imperial 
highway from Tientsin to Ter-chou, five or six miles from 
the Taku road, which we had expected to strike. We 
knew, however, that it would take us into the suburbs of 
the Chinese city, and so we pushed on as rapidly as our 
jaded ponies could carry us ; and after we had entered 
the postern of the outer earthworks, as we thought, turned 
to the right to skirt the Chinese city and go to the settle- 
ment. The next thing we knew we found ourselves inside 
the walled Chinese city, where none of us except the inter- 
preter and the mafoos had ever been before ; and, as we 
had already got separated in the dust-storm from the 
mafoos, and our own party had become divided, it soon 
dawned upon us that we were lost. The streets were 
crooked, and the turnings frequent, and, as none of us 
were conscious of having entered the city gate, our bewil- 
derment was complete. Captain Higginson and I were 
separated from the rest of the party, and as neither of us 
could speak a word of Chinese except "Kee Chong," the 
Chinese designation of Russell & Co., and could find no 
Chinamen who could speak a word of English, or knew 
what we meant by "Kee Chong," we wandered about in 
all directions, like lost children, for an hour. Finally, 
we came across two jinrilcsha men, and made them un- 



LOST IN A BUST-STORM. 291 

derstand by signs and the free use of "Kee Chong" that 
we wanted them to guide us to the foreign settlement. 
Of course, they turned us directly back from the course 
on which we were trayeling, and in twenty minutes led 
us to the paved road, in the outskirts of the Chinese city, 
leading to the settlement. We both recognized that at 
once, and, paying our guides liberally, rode directly to 
Eussell &J Oo.'s compound, where we found a hearty wel- 
come from Mr. Thorburn, and an excellent tiffin await- 
ing us. Mr. Nichols and the interpreter had got there 
before us, but they had been lost also, although the inter- 
preter soon got himself put on the right road. 

I had been lost before for three hours with Mr. Nichols 
in the streets of Ohinan-fu, and the experience, however 
natural, was by no means an agreeable one, but to be lost 
first on the plains, and then in the city, within three miles 
of the settlement, after traveling over fifteen hundred 
miles without guides, in a country that none of our party 
had ever seen before, was puzzling, not to say surprising, 
in the extreme. It was, of course, due entirely to the 
dust-storm, which prevented our seeing the roads and 
landmarks, and even hid the city gates and wall where we 
entered them. 

The things which most impressed me during this trip 
were the vast extent and dead-level uniformity and dreari- 
ness of the Great Plain, the homogeneity of the people, 
and the sameness of their manners, customs, dwellings, 
and occupation ; their healthfulness, and immunity from 
disease and suffering ; their avid curiosity, mingled with 
kindness and civility to strangers ; and their contented 
and placid disposition. I was surprised at the crooked- 
ness of the Grand Canal, the bad repair of its embank- 
ments, and the utter neglect into which they have fallen. 
The absence of locks for the utilization of its water-sup- 
ply, and the general crudeness of their engineering works, 



292 CHINA. 

were by no means unexpected, for nothing else could be 
looked for in a country entirely unacquainted with sci- 
ence ; and I had been prepared for what I saw, in relation 
to those matters, by what I had read in the *' Peking Ga- 
zette. " Neither was I surprised at the number and size 
of the cities, but I must confess withal that I was not 
impressed as I expected to be with the density of the 
population. I saw no eyidence whatever of overcrowding, 
and do not think there is any. To the contrary, I am 
sure that with proper drainage- works, improved methods 
of cultivation, varied industries, and a fair supply of rail- 
roads, a much denser population can be supported than 
now lives in any part of the Great Plain. This region is 
the very home of the Chinese, and they live now just ex- 
actly as they did a thousand years ago. Their occupa- 
tions, implements, and manners are absolutely unchanged. 
They never see foreigners, nor do they buy anything of 
foreign origin except needles, thread, cotton cloth, and 
kerosene. Foreign arts and civilization have made no 
progress in their midst, and no changes in their mode of 
living or thinking. An occasional wandering missionary 
has, in a small way, familiarized them with the fact that 
the foreigner is not necessarily a barbarian, as is the early 
belief of every nation. Perhaps a dawning sentiment of 
toleration has begun to make itself felt, and a sense of ex- 
pectation has been aroused, but it is absolutely certain 
that there is yet no commercial or intellectual movement 
anywhere discernible. Life, hope, and aspiration are ab- 
solutely stagnant, and nothing can stir them into activity 
but newer and better education, the building of railroads, 
and the establishment of new industries. As it is in the 
Great Plain so it is everywhere in China, except at the 
treaty ports, and in the country immediately about them. 
But what most amazed me was the insignificance of 
the Hwang-ho, or Yellow Eiver ; the small volume of 



1 



THE YELLOW RIVER DELTA. 293 

water it was carrying, the narrowness of its channel, and 
the insecure and generally neglected condition of its em- 
bankments. Of course, it presents a yery different ap- 
pearance at flood, during which it must carry an enor- 
mous volume of water to the sea. Having no valley or 
border of hills, after it enters the plain it is free to 
spread itself indefinitely over the neighboring country, 
when once it has overflowed its banks and broken through 
the dikes which should confine it. 

There is no place of refuge in the plain except the 
river embankment, or here and there the site of a village 
or hamlet, the level of which has been raised from five or 
six feet for the purpose of keeping out the water. This 
precaution is not always taken, nor are the villages always 
surrounded by earthen embankments, as they might be, 
and it is the absence of such works which makes the far- 
spreading inundation so destructive to life and property, 
and fills the minds of the simple people with such a feel- 
ing of awe and helplessness when once it is upon them. 
Should it overtake them by night, which it not infre- 
quently does, and there is no ground near by, above its 
reach, the first refuge is the top of the house, or the 
limbs of the trees, if there are any ; or, better still, the 
boat, which is frequently kept even far inland for just 
snch an emergency. 

Withal, I have no doubt that the Yellow Eiver can be 
bridged wherever it may be desirable to cross it with rail- 
roads, nor do I doubt that bridges and railroad embank- 
ments can be built and maintained anywhere in the Great 
Plain, just as they are in the deltas of the Mississippi and 
the Danube. 

After my return to Tientsin I reported fully but in 
general terms to the Viceroy Li, and had many interest- 
ing interviews with him, the details of which, for obvious 
reasons, I do not feel at liberty to publish at this time. 



294: GSmA. 

Having completed as far as possible my business with the 
Viceroy, I again, visited Peking, where, through the kind- 
ness of Colonel Denby, our worthy minister, I was re- 
ceived by the Prince and Ministers of the Tsung li Yamen, 
or Board of Foreign Affairs. The interview with these 
distinguished Manchu and Chinese dignitaries was quite 
interesting ; many subjects were touched upon and dis- 
cussed, and, so far as I could see, without prejudice or 
illiberality on their part. They are evidently men of great 
natural intelligence and of distinguished attainments in 
Chinese learning, however ignorant they may be in regard 
to foreign arts and sciences. Prince Ching, the president 
of the board, belongs to the imperial clan, and is a near 
relative of the young Emperor. He is of medium stature, 
and seems to be an exceedingly sensible and prudent man, 
not over fifty years of age. He and his associates (who 
were older) entertained us handsomely with sweetmeats, 
fruits, and hot samsJiu, and seemed to be really pleased 
to see and converse with us. Their manners were grave 
and dignified, and would have been considered polite and 
courtly at the most refined capital of Europe. 



A 



CHAPTEE XVIII. 

Visit to Formosa — Description of the island — The inhabitants — The 
savages — Mountain - ranges — Camphor-wood — Eastern coast — Lack 
of harbors — Port of Kelung — Tamsui — City of Twatutia — The 
governor's yamen — Chang-hwa, the future capital — Valleys of the 
Tamsui — Tea-plantations — Tea-culture — Energetic operations of 
Governor-General Liu Ming-Ch'uan — Foreigners in Formosa — Mats 
and opium-smoking — Houses in Formosa — Prevalent diseases — Do- 
mestic animals — Climate — ^Future value of Formosa. 

After completing my travels in Northern China, I 
returned to Shanghai and made a trip by steamer up the 
stately Yang-tse-kiang in company with Consul-General 
Smithers to the old capital of Nanking, where we were 
receiyed and politely entertained by Tseng Quo-Ch'uan, 
brother of Tseng Quo-Fan, uncle of the Marquis Tseng, 
and gOYcrnor-general of the province of Che-kiang. He 
is a venerable and able man, who has rendered great serv- 
ices to his country, and is now said to be a decided liberal 
in reference to Chinese policy. He received us with 
every mark of respectful consideration, and seemed to be 
deeply interested in what we had to say touching the im- 
portant needs of the empire, as did his '^ deputy for for- 
eign affairs " and his English-speaking and very intelli- 
gent secretary. Immediately after getting back to Shang- 
hai I sailed for Japan, and traveled there for six weeks, 
at the end of which time I returned to China, for the 
purpose of making a visit to the Island of Formosa, first 
made famous by the French impostor, George Psalmana- 



296 CHmA. 

zsLY, who published a fictitious account of it in 1704, 
which was so cleyerly written that it imposed upon all 
Europe. 

I sailed from Shanghai by the Chinese transport 
steamship Way Lee, formerly the British steamship Wa- 
verley. Captain Danielsen commanding, on the 4th of 
June, and arrived at Tamsui, the principal port of this 
island, on the 6th. The next morning I proceeded by 
steam-launch to Twatutia, the seat of government, for 
the purpose of conferring with His Excellency Liu Ming- 
Ch'uan, the governor-general. 

By reference to the map of Asia, it will be seen that 
Formosa, or Taiwan, as it is called by the Chinese, is 
about four hundred miles south of the mouth of the 
Yang-tse, and one hundred from the mainland of China. 
It lies between 25° 20' and 21*^ 50' north latitude, is 
nearly two hundred and forty miles long, by an average 
of seventy-five miles wide, and has an area of about 
twelve thousand square miles. It is remarkable for its 
beauty and fertility, and also for the variety of its prod- 
ucts. It was formerly attached to the province of Foh- 
kien, and governed ' by a resident commissioner ; but 
since the Franco-Chinese War, during which the French, 
under Admiral Courbet, were foiled in their efforts to 
take possession of it, it has been erected into an independ- 
ent province by imperial decree, and is now governed by 
Liu Ming-Ch'uan, an able and progressive man, with the 
title and almost unlimited authority of governor-general. 

The island was once in the possession of the Span- 
iards, who called it Formosa (beautiful), but did not colo- 
nize it. It then passed into the hands of the Dutch, who 
built Fort Zealandia, and established a trading-post on 
the southwest coast, near the present city of Taiwan-fu, 
and another known as the Eed Fort, at Tamsui, on the 
northwest coast. But the Dutch in turn abandoned the 



THE ISLAND OF FORMOSA. 297 

island about the year 1660, immediately after which it 
was occupied and colonized by the Chinese from Amoy 
and other points on the coast of Fohkien. The popula- 
tion is now estimated by the governor-general at four 
million Chinese and sixty thousand savages, but the first 
figures are doubtless much too large. 

The savages are a fine race of men of the Malay or 
Polynesian type, who hold nearly all the east coast and 
the mountain-region, covering over one half the island. 
They live mostly by hunting and fishing, or upon the 
natural products of the forest, and cultivate but little 
land. They wear scarcely any clothing, use bows, arrows, 
and knives, together with a few old-fashioned matchlocks, 
and yet withal they have up to the present time success- 
fully resisted all efforts to subjugate them or to take pos- 
session of their fastnesses. They are brave, fierce, and 
active, but have made scarcely any progress in the arts 
of civilization. They are naturally kind and hospitable to 
Europeans, but look upon the Chinese as their deadly ene- 
mies. This is due not only to the fact that the latter 
have been pressing them steadily back for two hundred 
years, but have, it is alleged, treated them at times with 
marked cruelty and treachery. More than one case is 
mentioned where the Chinese are said to have invited the 
savages to a friendly parley and feast, and after filling 
them with samshu, to have fallen upon and decapitated 
the whole lot. On the other hand, the savages seem to 
have a natural passion for the acquisition of skulls and 
scalps, or Chinese queues, and whenever they capture a 
Chinaman they put him to death and scalp him. Gov- 
ern or- Ceneral Liu has, however, adopted a more humane 
policy, and partly by fighting when necessary, but mostly 
by peaceful negotiations and trade, is making rapid prog- 
ress toward the subjugation and civilization of his abo- 
riginal neighbors. Only a short tima ago over eight 



298 cnmA. 

hundred of the latter were induced to come in and shave 
their heads and adopt Chinese clothing in evidence of 
their submission. Should this policy be continued, it is 
quite likely that within a few years the whole mountain- 
region will come under Chinese sway and be opened to 
settlement. 

The mountain-ranges throughout this region are gen- 
erally parallel with one another and with the eastern coast, 
and have a northeasterly trend, as do those in both China 
and Japan. They are covered with a dense forest-growth, 
including camphor-trees and a great variety of valuable 
hard woods. Bamboos, palms, long-leaved pines, and 
tree-ferns of rare species are found almost everywhere, 
and give the landscape a beauty which it is difficult for 
one to realize without seeing it. 

From the abundance of camphor-trees, gum-camphor 
was formerly one of the principal articles of export, but 
of late years its production has been on the decrease, and 
now there is relatively but a small amount gathered or 
exported. This is owing to the fact that the trees have 
been nearly all cut off in the Chinese part of the island, 
and the savages make it very dangerous for Chinamen to 
venture into the virgin forests for them. Governor-Gen- 
eral Liu and the later commissioners have brought over 
from the mountain-regions of Quang-tung and Kwei-chau 
a number of Hakkas, an aboriginal tribe of brave and 
skillful woodsmen, who are very successful in fighting 
and driving back the Formosan hill-men. These Hakkas 
are now the principal camphor-wood cutters, and really 
produce nearly all the gum which is offered for export. 

The eastern coast of the island is unusually bold and 
rocky, and presents much magnificent scenery. The 
water immediately off shore is very deep, and there is 
but one good harbor, that of Kelung, of which I shall say 
more farther on, and only one or two good anchorages ou 



THE ISLAND OF FORMOSA. 299 

the whole of that coast. The hills and mountains rise 
sheer up to a height of 6,000 or 7,000 feet above the 
water, and several of the peaks, although situated well 
toward the middle of the island — notably, Mount Mor- 
rison, 12,850 feet; Mount Sylvia, 11,300 feet; an un- 
named peak in Dodd's Eange, 12,800 feet ; and West 
Peak, 9,000 feet high — can be seen in favorable weather 
from a great distance at sea. The west coast-land is gen- 
erally low and undulating, though outlying hills from 
one to two thousand feet high come down to the sea in 
several places. The sea between the island and the main- 
land, like that to the northward as far as Oorea, and be- 
tween Corea and Japan, is remarkably shallow. It varies 
in depth from twenty to fifty fathoms, while that north 
of it variec from twenty to seventy-five fathoms. 

There are no harbors of any kind on this coast except 
that of Tamsui, at the mouth of the Tamsui Eiver. It 
has only fifteen or sixteen feet of water on the bar at 
high tide, and, owing to this fact, and to the extraordinary 
velocity of the outgoing tides during freshets and ty- 
phoons, it is by no means safe or satisfactory. The ab- 
sence of good harbors and anchorages and the frequent re- 
currence during the summer months of violent typhoons, 
have been a serious drawback to the island, and must al- 
ways exert a modifying influence upon its development. 
Both Kelung and Tamsui being at or near the northern 
end of the island, and it being impossible to make safe 
harbors and anchorages on either coast south of them, 
one or the other of these must become the principal port. 

Kelung has by far the best entrance and anchorage. 
It is well marked by bold headlands, and can be entered 
at all times by the largest ocean-steamers. The hills 
about it abound in excellent bituminous coal, and it is 
susceptible of easy defense by properly placed fortifica- 
tions and torpedoes ; but its entrance is open to northeast 



300 CHINA. 

typhoons, and the anchorage is of but limited capacity, 
being only a little more than a mile long. It is, how- 
ever, sufficient for all possible business for many years. 
Its most serious disadvantages for the present are that 
there is but little level ground about it suitable for build- 
ing-sites, and neither river nor roads connect it with the 
rich interior of the island. Curiously enough, Kelung 
Eiver flows back of the hills (two hundred and fifty to 
four hundred feet high) within two miles of it, and, after 
joining the Tamsui Eiver, a short distance from its mouth, 
enters the sea at Tamsui ; but neither of these streams is 
navigable for anything except flat- bottomed junks and 
sampans. 

Thus, while Kelung has the best harbor — in fact, the 
only good one in the island — Tamsai has the best and 
only water communication with the interior, and is con- 
sequently the principal seaport, and likely to remain so 
until a railroad is built from Kelung to the new capital 
and beyond. It should be borne in mind that there are 
no roads and no wheeled vehicles on the island, and that 
all the transportatio];! is done in boats or on the backs 
and shoulders of coolies. The city of Taiwan-fu, situated 
on the southwest coast, and estimated by the governor- 
general to have as many as two hundred thousand inhab- 
itants, was formerly the capital ; but, when the French 
captured Kelung, and endeavored to capture Tamsui, and 
to take possession of the island. Governor Liu removed 
the seat of government to Twatutia (Twat-u-teeah), an 
important city situated on the right bank of the Tamsui 
Eiver, ten miles from Tamsui, and twenty from Kelung. 
Banka, a place of equal size and importance, is situated on 
the same side of the river, a mile farther up. 

The governor's yamen is nearly midway between the 
two, but about a third of a mile back from the river. It 
is surrounded by a new and well-constructed wall of ex- 



GOVERNOR-GENERAL LIU MING-GWUAN. 301 

cellent rubble masonry, about eighteen feet high and ten 
feet thick, surmounted by a crenelated parapet, with 
loop-holes and embrasures for small-arms, and is furnished 
with salients, sally-ports, iron-bound gates, and moats, all 
in the style of the feudal times. The wall incloses about 
half a square mile, and is about two miles around, but 
most of the land inside is under cultivation in rice. The 
official designation of the seat of government just described 
is Taipak-f u, although, as before stated, it is practically 
a part of Twatutia. 

Notwithstanding the extent of this wall, and the large 
sum of money it must have cost, it is understood that 
Taipak-f u is only a temporary capital, and that the Impe- 
rial Government has designated Ohang-hwa as the future 
and permanent capital. This is a large and important 
town (latitude 24° north), about eighty miles southwest 
of Twatutia, situated in the center of a fertile region, 
under high cultivation in sugar, rice, sweet-potatoes, 
oranges, hemp, tobacco, and indigo, and, with proper 
highways and railroads, to connect it with Kelung and 
other parts of the island north and south, it will certainly 
become a still more important city. Its present popula- 
tion is about one hundred thousand, and that of Twatu- 
tia, Banka, and Taipak-fu is probably as great. 

I have carefully explored and examined the island 
between Tamsui, Twatutia, and Kelung, in boats, sedan- 
chairs, and on foot, crossing it from sea to sea, and going 
around the north end of it in a steamer, and have never 
seen a region possessing greater attractions and advan- 
tages in surface, soil, and productions. 

The valleys of the Tamsui and its tributaries, includ- 
ing the lower Kelung, are broad, level plains, mostly 
given up to rice-fields, from which two crops a year are 
harvested ; but the hills are everywhere in sight, and in 
many cases are covered to the very top with tea-planta- 



302 CHINA. 

tions, producing large quantities of the Formosa oolong, 
or black tea, now so rapidly and deservedly gaining favor 
throughout the United States. It is perfectly pure, un- 
colored, and unadulterated, and is carefully prepared and 
packed^ under the supervision of foreign houses. It is 
grown upon virgin land, and is peculiarly rich and smooth 
in flavor. As some would say, " There isn't a headache 
or a nervous tremor in a hogshead of it." It is surely 
replacing both Amoy and Japanese tea, and the output is 
said to be increasing at the rate of about twenty-five per 
cent per year. Its cultivation was begun only a few years 
ago, but since nearly all of the hill and mountain region 
of the island is adapted to its growth, it is evident that 
any quantity required by the world can be supplied. 

The soil of the tea-fields is a reddish, clay-like loam, 
which at a distance contrasts strongly with the green 
covering of the unplanted hill-sides. The plantations 
are generally small, containing, as a rule, from a quarter 
of an acre to three or four acres ; but Messrs. Russell & 
Company have one said to contain four hundred acres, 
and to produce a supe^-ior quality of tea. 

The development of tea-culture in Northern Formosa, 
although accompanied by a falling off in the production 
of sugar, to which the soil and climate are also well 
adapted, has given rise to a general feeling of confidence 
in the future growth of this island, while the effort of the 
French to capture it, following, as it did, upon the land- 
ing of the Japanese on the southwestern coast for the 
purpose of punishing the natives for the maltreatment of 
some shipwrecked sailors, has directed the attention of 
the Imperial Chinese G-overnment to its importance and 
value as a constituent portion of the empire. 

As before stated, Governor- General Liu is a vigorous 
and progressive ruler, who seems to be determined not 
only to develop the commerce of his province, but to fur- 



QOYEENOR-GENERAL LIU MING-GR'UAN, 303 

nish it with roads and bridges, and to put it into a state 
of defense which will enable him to hold it against all 
comers. He is at present engaged in building fortifica- 
tions at Kelung and Tamsui, to be armed with $600,000 
worth of Armstrong breech-loading cannon, five of which 
are to weigh forty tons each. He has also contracted for 
some armed cruisers, and has on hand an abundant sup- 
ply of Kemington-Lee rifles and Gatling-guns. He is 
erecting a cartridge-factory, and is seriously considering 
many other improvements, both civil and military, for 
the various parts of the island. He is a friend and ;pro- 
Uge of Li Hung-Ohang, and, like him, is quite friendly 
to foreigners, upon whom he does not hesitate to call for 
advice and assistance in matters which he does not him- 
self understand. His liberahty as well as his humanity 
compare favorably with those of the French, at least, and 
this is shown by the fact that the latter are said to have 
shot many Chinese prisoners, and even a number of poor, 
defenseless women, during their occupation of Kelung, 
while Liu did not retaliate, but, instead, treated all 
French prisoners with marked kindness and considera- 
tion, giving them 1100 each, and sending them back to 
their own lines in good condition. 

This island imports American petroleum, cotton, 
sheetings, shirtings, and drills in increasing quantities. 
It also takes lamps, matches, needles, and many other 
articles of foreign manufacture, and will take more and 
more of all these things in the future. There are, per- 
haps, a hundred and fifty foreigners altogether in the 
island, employed in the customs service and in mercantile 
and shipping business and as missionaries. The greater 
number of foreigners live here and at Tamsui, but there 
are also a few at Kelung and Taiwan-fu. The majority 
are English, the Americans come next, and then the 
Germans, with a sprinkling of Danes, Norwegians, and 



304: cnmA. 

other nationalities, all of whom live on excellent terms 
with one another, though here, as well as in other Ori- 
ental countries, there is but little, if any, intercourse be- 
tween the missionaries and business or official people. 

America takes nearly all the Formosan tea and sugar, 
which are the principal articles of export to foreign coun- 
tries, but furnishes in exchange by no means a propor- 
tional part of the imported goods consumed in the isl- 
ands. 

The governor-general says the best thing produced in 
Formosa is a kind of mat used for sleeping upon in hot 
weather. It is made of a species of palm-leaf, and is in 
texture and feeling exactly like the material of a Panama 
hat, though not so white. It is quite fine, soft, and flexi- 
ble, and it is said that a mat four by six feet, of the best 
quality, costs even here as much as 1100. The governor 
adds that the worst thing in Formosa is opium-smoking, 
which is widely practiced, and, from my own observation, 
I am compelled to say, it seems to spare neither class nor 
condition of man. High as well as low are the victims of 
the habit, and they regort to it openly and without shame. 
I have seen high officials withdraw from the table upon 
social occasions for the avowed purpose of taking a whiff. 
Such men as the Viceroy Li and Governor-General Liu 
openly denounce and frown upon it ; but, withal, there 
is reason to believe that the consumption of the drug, 
both foreign and native, is on the increase. 

China owes this curse principally to the British Gov- 
ernment and its subjects, who have fought for and suc- 
ceeded in securing almost a monopoly of the traffic in the 
foreign article. Happily, under the treaty between the 
United States and China, the traffic in opium is unlawful 
for American citizens, and this fact has strengthened 
Americans with the Chinese authorities. Were it not for 
the late outrages upon Chinese subjects in America, there 



PRODUCTION'S OF THE ISLAND. 3^5 

is little room for doubting that American experts, in all 
kinds of public and private business, would baye the 
preference in China over all other foreigners. 

The cities and towns, manners, customs, farming and 
farmsteads, buildings and architecture are much the same 
in Formosa as in other parts of the empire. There are 
no highways worthy of the name, the streets are crooked 
and dirty, and the houses are low, dark, and squalid, but 
they are generally built of red fire-burned bricks, and not 
of sun-dried mud or gray fire-burned bricks, as is the case 
in the delta country of the mainland. 

Another feature peculiar to Formosa is that the houses 
are not thatched, but covered with tiles, and, instead of 
having plain fronts, are in many cases furnished with an 
arcade, supported by square columns of brick, inside of 
which passers walk and do their visiting and bargaining. 
This peculiarity is, doubtless, due to the frequency and 
heaviness of the rains, the downfall of which is said to be 
as much as one hundred inches, and even more, per year. 

The people have all the characteristics of the Chinese 
of the mainland, but, on the whole, they do not seem to 
be either so well fed or vigorous. The climate in the 
lowlands is malarious, intermittent fevers are common, 
and the complexion of the inhabitants strikes one as being 
somewhat more sallow than in Northern or even Middle 
China. Small-pox is an every-day affair, and is lightly 
regarded. Consumption is not common, but blood-spit- 
ting, or bleeding from the lungs, is said to occur fre- 
quently, and to be due to the development of a sort of 
fluke or worm in the lungs, the germ of which is taken 
in with drinking-water, and developed in some way not 
clearly understood. Curiously enough, this parasite, ac- 
cording to my informant, is rarely fatal to the person in 
whose lungs it has formed its nidus. 

The largest domestic animal is the water-buffalo {Bos 



306 CHINA, 

luhalos), which may be seen on every uncultiyated hill- 
side and river or canal bank, and always watched by boys 
or old menj generally one to each buffalo. 

The most common animal is the black Chinese hog, 
the flesh of which in all forms, from roast pig to smoked 
sausages, constitutes the principal animal food of the 
average Chinaman. Duck-raising is a great industry on 
the rivers and ponds. Chickens are abundant, and their 
eggs can always be had at moderate cost. Turkeys and 
geese are also met with occasionally, but are less common. 
Pheasants, plover, snipe, and wild ducks, also several 
kinds of deer, and the brown bear, are found in their ap- 
propriate haunts on the plains or in the forests and jun- 
gles of the mountain-region. There are but few ponies 
and beef-cattle, and no sheep except such as are brought 
over from the mainland. Mosquitoes, house-flies, fleas, 
and many other kinds of insects, are plentiful and pestif- 
erous ; and yet, if this island were within one hundred 
miles of the American coast, and belonged to us, it would 
justly be looked upon as an earthly paradise. 

The climate, on the whole, is salubrious and agree- 
able, for, although the* island lies partly within the torrid 
zone, its temperature is never hot. It rarely if ever rises 
above 90° Fahrenheit. Fresh breezes blow every day, and 
high winds, and even tornadoes or typhoons from the sur- 
rounding seas, are not infrequent ; and, however annoy- 
ing the latter may be, they cool and purify the air, and 
render it healthy and invigorating. But little clothing, 
and that of the most inexpensive kind, is needed, and 
vegetable food can be produced in great abundance, and 
at as low a cost perhaps as in any other country. 

Bituminous coal of good quality is mined in many 
parts of the island. Petroleum has been discovered, but 
is not yet produced in any quantity. Iron-ore, and even 
gold and silver, are thought to exist in the mountains. 



PRODUCTION'S OF THE ISLAND. 307 

The importing and exporting business of the island is in 
the hands of able and experienced merchants, and there 
is no place in it for adventurers. 

A few specialists might find employment with the 
Government, and American manufacturers of machinery, 
cotton goods, thread, lam]3S, nails, and certain classes of 
liardware, after sending competent men to ascertain ex- 
actly what kinds and styles of goods were required by the 
people, might extend their business with the island, though 
it should not be forgotten that, notwithstanding the de- 
velopment of tea culture and export, as explained above, 
trade here, as everywhere else in China and Japan, is in 
a depressed condition, due almost entirely to the fall in 
the price of silver, and the disturbance of the rates of ex- 
change with Europe and America. 

But, besides the natural riches of Formosa, and its 
availability as a place of settlement for large numbers of 
Chinamen from the mainland, it has a great future value 
to China as the site of a naval station, for which Kelung, 
with its coal-mines and defensible harbor, is exceedingly 
well situated and adapted. The Pescadores, a group of 
rocky islands, which are situated in the Formosa Chan- 
nel, midway between the island and mainland, also be- 
long to China. They have several fine harbors, which 
are susceptible of easy defense, and therefore offer another 
exceedingly good base of naval operations against any 
maritime power threatening the Chinese coast. 



CHAPTEE XIX. 

Chinese system of education — Confined to classics, jurisprudence, and 
history — Influence upon the governing class and common people — The 
arrest of development — How China is to be prepared for the higher 
civilization — Substitution of Western sciences for the dry husks of 
their worn-out philosophy — The earliest communication with the 
Chinese by the Portuguese — The Spaniards — The French — The Rus- 
sians — The English — The East India Company — The Americans — 
The Chinese authorities have from the first sought to restrain trade 
— The period of small ships — The first Protestant missionaries — 
The attitude of the Chinese officials in reference to trade — The 
hong-merchants — Lord Napier's refusal to confer with them — Action 
of the English merchants — The discussion at Peking — The opium- 
traffic — The Emperor's efforts to suppress it — Captain Elliot — The 
destruction of the opium — The Opium War — The conclusion of peace 
— ^the Chinese concessions — The settlement of Hong-Kong — The 
influence of the war. 

The most noted particular in which the Chinese differ 
from all other people, and especially from Europeans and 
Americans, is in respect to education. Up to the time of 
the Eeformation they were abreast, if not in advance, of 
the rest of the world, in many of the things that con- 
stitute civilization. Their towns and cities were as well 
walled and defended ; their canal and river navigation 
was better ; their manufactures were in many particulars 
of a higher order, and their general education, while 
developed on different lines, was perhaps as far advanced 
as that of any Western nation. It is not my intention 
to enter into a discussion of its details, nor even to give 



( 



THE CHINESE SYSTEM OF EDUGATIOK 309 

its general features, for both are set forth at large in the 
"Middle Kingdom" and the cyclopaedias. It is suf- 
ficient for my purpose to say that it has always had but 
one object and aim, and that is to teach the classics, 
jurisprudence, and history of China. Whatever human 
thought that could not be brought within this realm has 
been counted as of little value. The range and methods 
of instruction have been laid down and established from 
time immemorial in the laws and customs of the land, and 
there is neither material change nor improvement in them. 
They are based primarily upon the teachings of Con- 
fucius, "the most prescient sage and philosopher," and 
upon the commentaries of his disciples. What he or they 
may have said is conclusive, and when quoted puts an 
end to all further discussion. What they do not say la 
not worth considering. It may be sensible and irrefuta- 
ble, or it may even have the force and sanction of law, 
but it is neither classic nor sacred, and can be of no per- 
manent or binding effect, as against the slightest precept or 
statement of Confucius, which can be arrayed against it. 
The result has been to arrest all intellectual development 
and progress in China, and to mold the Chinese mind 
entirely upon one model. Nothing new or spontaneous 
can come from it, and every individual Chinese soul is 
bound and circumscribed by it, and is as powerless to es- 
cape its thralldom, through any volition of its own, as are 
the spokes of a carriage-wheel to escape from the felloe and 
tire which surround them. It can not aspire to anything 
better, for it can not imagine or conceive that anything 
can be better. There is no source of doubt or light left 
open to the great mass of the Chinese people, bound and 
fettered as they are by tradition, by the isolation of their 
country, by the poverty and inflexibility of their literary 
language, and by the settled and narrow limits of their 
system of instruction. The absence of hereditary nobil- 



310 CHmA, 

ity, and the equality of condition and rights within the 
system, render the system itself popular, and tend to dis- 
seminate a feeling of contentment. Where all men are 
poor and ignorant alike, and the lot of each is unalter- 
able, discontentment can not prevail to any great extent ; 
and discontentment, so far as I can ascertain, does not 
prevail among the mass of the Chinese people. Neither 
the face of the country, nor the course of Nature, changes 
about them. The Government remains the same from 
generation to generation. Dynasties rise and fall from 
the operation of natural causes as the seasons come and 
go, but the laws, and the machinery for their enforcement, 
remain substantially unchanged from century to century. 
The Tartar and the Manchu emperors, no less surely than 
those of strictly Chinese origin, become subject to the 
sway of the ** most prescient sage " and his teaching ; 
and, like the common people, are bound by the custom 
which comes down to them sanctified by age, and based 
upon a system of philosophy which, so far as they know, 
has never been questioned. 

As China and its people were at the time of Luther, 
or even of Christ, sb they are now in all essential partic- 
ulars. They have had no awakening, and have made no 
protest. They have had no great teacher to overthrow or 
to build upon the old philosophy. No great statesman 
has filled the throne since the days of Arkwright, Watt, 
Fulton, Stephenson, and Morse, and hence there has been 
no one in China with power enough to reach out toward 
or to comprehend the great movement which character- 
izes what we call modern progress. 

There is no effective system of common schools, and the 
machinery of education has undergone no change whatever 
for two thousand years. It stands just where it did at 
the beginning of the Christian era. Printing by blocks 
has been practiced by the Chinese for over eight hundred 



THE PR0GEE8SIVE MOVEMENT, 311 

years but there is no sucli thing known in the interior as 
a newspaper which gives all the news and comments upon 
or criticises it from the standpoint of an independent, 
questioning intelligence. Of course, it should be borne 
constantly in mind that I am speaking of interior China, 
and the countless millions inhabiting it, who are powerless 
to change, or to desire change, and must remain so, till 
they can be brought within the range of the newer thought 
and thus be prepared for the higher civilization. The great 
question is : '* How is this to be done ? Can it be done 
by missionaries, or by school-teachers, or even by news- 
papers and books disseminated among and acting directly 
upon the common people ? Can any one or even all of 
these means be brought to bear efficiently upon the great 
work of education, without the concurrence of the Grov- 
ernment ? " I am compelled to answer that they can not. 
In China, as everywhere else in the world, the toiling 
millions must first be reached through the thinking few. 
In short, the Chinese people must be reached through the 
literary or official class, which governs and controls every- 
thing, and this must be done in various ways and by 
various means which I will point out more fully in the 
closing chapter of this book. It is all summed up, how- 
ever, in the declaration that they must substitute the 
Western sciences for the dry husks of their worn-out 
philosophy, and adopt the Western methods of education, 
before they can elevate the Chinese people and put them 
abreast of the rest of the world. They must adopt West- 
ern arts and appliances before they can understand or ap- 
preciate at their true value the advantages of Western 
civilization. They must be led to adopt our ways by 
showing them that our ways are better than theirs, and 
this can be done most efficiently by giving them object- 
lessons on a grand scale. They must be led forward step 
by step from the concrete to the abstract, their needs must 



312 cnmA. 

be pointed out to them, and they must be shown how to 
attain them in the shortest and best way. We must teach 
them how to utilize their own resources ; how to build 
railroads and operate them ; how to open mines, and to 
work them ; how to make iron and steel, and to use 
them ; how to find and extract the precious metals ; how 
to establish manufactories and to conduct them profita- 
bly. The Government and some of their leading men 
have already learned the value of steamships for com- 
merce, of ironclads, great guns, and torpedoes, for naval 
defense ; of breech-loaders and Western tactics for the 
army ; and of the telegraph for communicating rapidly 
with the remote parts of the empire, but the masses in 
the interior are almost if not entirely ignorant upon all 
these subjects. 

It is now universally recognized that the greatest in- 
dustrial movement of all time, is the one which has sup- 
plied and is still supplying the world with steamboats and 
railroads. It has given profitable employment to more 
capital and labor than ever co-operated with each other 
before in any period of the world's history. It has made 
itself felt in every 'branch of human industry. It has 
opened mines and quarries, built furnaces, rolling-mills, 
and machine-shops. It has improved every human appli- 
ance, increased the sum of human comfort and happiness 
more than any other movement in which human beings 
have ever participated. It has annihilated time and 
space. It has overcome Nature, and brought its benefi- 
cent fruits to all nations and races of men. And it is this 
movement which has already crossed the borders of China, 
and now threatens to break down the last barrier of her 
conservatism and isolation. 

Communication at rare intervals has been had between 
Europe and China from the time of Marco Polo down to 
the present day. Friar Odoric, who landed at Canton, 



TEE PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT, 313 

and lived in the country from 1286 to 1331, describes how 
the Chinese at that time used cormorants in fishing, wore 
long finger-nails, and compressed the feet of their women. 
He was followed by many Jesuits, who were tolerated and' 
permitted to travel and teach throughout the country. 
The Portuguese Jesuit, Benedict Goes, who went over- 
land from Europe, and died on the frontier at Sechuan, 
was the first person to point out that Oathay and China 
are the same country. 

Up to the conquest of the Manchus, trade and travel 
in China seem to have been free to such foreigners as 
could reach it overland or otherwise. The Portuguese, 
Rafael Perestrello, was the first man who conducted a 
vessel to China under a European flag. This was in 
1516. He was followed the next year by Ferdinand An- 
drade, and he by his brother Simon. They were both 
bad men, and, although they opened trade at Canton and 
along the coast, their behavior was such as to fill the 
timid natives with apprehension. Portuguese traders 
and adventurers followed in goodly numbers, and Macao 
was settled by them in 1560. 

The Spaniards who had taken possession of the Philip- 
pines, made their first appearance on the Chinese coast in 
1575. The Dutch took possession of the Pescadores in 
1622, and of Formosa in 1624, built forts at Zelandia, 
Tamsui, and Kelung, founded colonies and trading-sta- 
tions, sent missions to Peking, and carried on a desultory 
trade with the mainland, till they were driven out of 
Formosa by the great Chinese pirate Koxinga in 1662. 
Afterward they traded at Canton on the same footing 
with the representatives of other nations till 1863, when 
their relations with the Chinese were regulated by the 
Treaty of Tientsin. 

The French G-overnment has never till late years sent 
an embassy to Peking, nor made any effort to open trade 
15 



314 CHINA, 

or to establish trading-posts on the Chinese coast, bnt 
the French Jesuits gave the world more information 
about China prior to this century than all other travel- 
ers put together. 

The Russians sent many trading expeditions from their 
settlements in the Amur Valley to Peking between 1567 
and 1677. They established relations which were more 
or less intimate, and by firmness and fair dealing suc- 
ceeded in making the first treaty which was ever agreed 
to by the court of Peking. It was signed at Nipchu, on 
the 27th day of August, 1689, and the ratification of it 
by the Russian Czar was carried to China by Ysbrandt 
Ides in 1692. The Czar sent Yladislavitch as minister to 
Peking in 1727, and he was permitted to establish there 
a permanent legation and college for the education of 
interpreters. This legation has been steadily maintained 
from that time to this, and, barring the friction along the 
frontier of the two countries, and especially in the valley 
of the Amur, the relations of China and Russia have been 
uniformly friendly. The Russians are, however, pressing 
steadily forward upon the Chinese border from the re- 
motest corner of Turkistan to the coast of the Pacific 
Ocean, and there can be but little doubt that this pre- 
sents the greatest possible danger to the integrity of the 
Chinese Empire. Prom this side it can be successfully 
assailed as soon as the railroad has reached the valley of 
the Amur, and, when the policy and interest of Russia in 
Asia are considered, it will be seen that the danger just 
alluded to must soon become an imminent if not a 
fatal one. It is already believed by careful observers in 
China that sooner or later the Russians will regard them- 
selves as compelled to occupy the valley of the Yellow 
River, and thus gain access to ports on the Yellow 
Sea which can be reached and kept open at all seasons of 
the year. 



TEE PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT. 315 

The first ships bearing the English flag anchored oif 
Macao in 1635, and, after trading awhile peaceably, got 
into a difficulty with the natives, and ended by fighting 
and beating them. They came again in 1644, and visited 
Amoy in 1677, but did not succeed in gaining a footing 
at Canton till 1684. In 1699 Oatchpool was appointed 
consul, or king's minister, and attempted to open trade 
at Mngpo and other points farther north. In 1703 the 
East India Company farmed out all the English foreign 
trade at Canton to one man. In 1742 Commodore Anson 
arrived off the coast with the Centurion, the first English 
frigate which had ever sailed into Chinese waters, and 
made an overpowering demonstration of English strength 
and determiuation. From that day forward, for about 
one hundred years, the East India Company practically 
monopolized the Chinese trade with foreigners. In 1792 
the English Government sent Earl Macartney with three 
ships and a brilliant staff on a special mission to Peking. 
They were received with every mark of respect and at- 
tention, and, although they gained no great diplomatic 
advantage or concession, it may be said that they opened 
China to foreign diplomacy. Lord Amherst was ap- 
pointed embassador, and reached Peking in 1816, but he 
was summarily dismissed because he would not perform 
the kotow. Trade was carried on, however, for many 
years thereafter under greater and greater restrictions. 
The Chinese authorities grew more and more jealous and 
apprehensive, and finally resolved to put an end to all in- 
tercourse whatever with foreigners. 

In 1834 the East India Company's monopoly in China 
came to an end, and Lord Napier was appointed chief 
superintendent of British trade, and sent to Canton with 
instructions from Lord Palmerston to protect and foster 
that trade, and extsnd it, if practicable, to other parts 
of the Chinese dominions, but forbidding him to conduct 



316 cnmA. 

any diplomatic negotiations whatever with the Goyern- 
ment at Peking. 

The first American trading-ship visited China in 1784, 
and from that time our merchants have done business 
there on the same footing as those of other nations, sub- 
ject to the same restrictions, and enjoying the same privi- 
leges. Our friendly relations have never been interrupted, 
though, according to Williams, our Government for 
many years "left the commerce, lives, and property of 
its citizens wholly unprotected and at the mercy of the 
Chinese laws and rulers." 

The trade and intercourse of the lesser European na- 
tions have grown up and been conducted under the ex- 
ample and leadership of England, and, until late years, 
have not been characterized by any events of special im- 
portance. 

From the foregoing statement it will be seen that 
commerce between the Chinese and foreigners began, in 
a small way, by sea in 1516, and was carried on by the 
Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch in a desultory and pre- 
daceous manner till the English made their appearance 
on the scene in 1635. From that time down to the pres- 
ent day the English have not only taken the most promi- 
nent and active part in it, but have controlled a larger 
share of the business than all other nations put together. 
They have never hesitated to ask frankly for what they 
wanted, but have always been bold, outspoken, and firm 
in their demands. Their Government has stood ready to 
back them by diplomacy and, if need be, by arms, and it 
is but just to say that whatever they have gained for 
themselves has also been conceded to others, perhaps re- 
luctantly and grudgingly at times, but always fully and 
fairly. It can not be denied, and the Chinese should not 
lose sight of the fact, that, after that from Russia, the 
next greatest danger to the Chinese Empire arises from 



TEE GROWTH OF FOREIGN TRADE. 317 

the juxtaposition of its western and southwestern prov- 
inces with the Indian possessions of the British crown, 
and the grasping and aggressive demands of British trade. 
This truth is fully attested by Chinese experience, and is 
generally admitted by the rest of the world. 

The Chinese authorities from the first sought to limit 
trade to Canton, and to hamper it by terms and condi- 
tions which were extremely onerous. They seem to have 
been apprehensive of foreign influence from the accession 
of the present dynasty, and to do all in their power to 
discourage their own people as well as the foreigners from 
engaging in commerce. For over two hundred years the 
trade of foreign merchants was strictly confined to Can- 
ton, and was conducted through Chinese or Oo-hong mer- 
chants, who were specially licensed for that purpose by 
the Government. Foreigners were not permitted to travel 
in the country; ^Hhey are permitted only to eat, sleep, 
buy, and sell in the factories " ; and even the first Protes- 
tant missionary, who reached China in 1807, was con- 
fined strictly to the hongs of the foreign merchants. 
Inasmuch as Chinese merchants have no social or ofiicial 
status, foreign merchants were put upon the same footing, 
and the result was that the influence of the latter reached 
no further than the minds of those through whom they 
conducted their business. They exerted no influence 
whatever upon the literary or governing class, and did 
nothing which could be measured to change either the 
civilization of the Chinese people or the methods of the 
Chinese Government. 

This was the period of small ships and strictly com- 
mercial methods, during the whole of which foreigners 
counted for nothing with the Chinese authorities. '^ They 
constituted," says Williams,* who was himself one of the 

* " The Middle Kingdom," vol. ii, p. 453 et seq. 



318 CEmA. 

earliest missionaries^ " a community by themselves, sub- 
ject chiefly to their own sense of honor in their mutual 
dealings, but their relations with the Chinese were like 
what lawyers call ' a state of nature.' The change of a 
goyernor-general, of a collector of customs, or a senior 
hong-merchant involved a new course of policy, accord- 
ing to the personal character of those functionaries. The 
Committee of the East India Company had considerable 
power over British subjects, and could deport them if it 
pleased ; but the consuls of other nations had little or no 
authority over their countrymen. Trade was left at the 
same loose ends that politics was, and the want of an ac- 
knowledged tariff encouraged smuggling and kept up a 
constant spirit of resistance and dissatisfaction between 
the native and the foreign merchants, each party en- 
deavoring to get along as advantageously to itself as pos- 
sible. ]S"or was there any acknowledged medium of com- 
munication between them, for consuls, not being credited 
by the Chinese Government, came and went, hoisting and 
lowering their flags, without the slightest notice to or from 
the authorities. Trade could proceed, perhaps, without 
involving the nations in war, since, if it were unprofitable, 
it would cease ; but, while it continued on such a pre- 
carious footing, national character suffered, and the mis- 
representations produced thereby rendered explanations 
difficult, inasmuch as neither party understood or believed 
the other." 

While, therefore, it is strictly true that foreigners pro- 
duced no change either in the civilization of the Chinese 
people or in the methods of the Chinese Government, it 
can not be said that they did not make their presence felt 
by the authorities at Peking during the long period which 
closed in 1843. The fact is, that, owing to the central- 
ized character of the Imperial Government, every public 
act of the foreigners was reported promptly to it, and had 



THE GROWTH OF FOREIGN TRADE. 319 

its influence in building up the policy of non-interoourse 
which finally came to be the ruling idea of Chinese diplo- 
macy. So long as trade was confined to one port, and 
conducted through the Oo-hong merchants under regula- 
tions laid down by the Peking Government, it was toler- 
ated ; embassadors and ministers were even received at 
Peking, but it was always understood by the Emperor and 
his advisers that they came as tribute-bearers from sub- 
ject nations, and not as the representatives of equal sov- 
ereignties. The very moment a pretension of this sort, 
on the part of Lord Napier, was suspected, the governor- 
general directed him to remain at Macao until he ob- 
tained legal permission to go to Canton. This notifica- 
tion was, however, not received in time, and Lord Napier 
proceeded to Canton as any unofficial foreigner would 
have done. At that place he ignored the hong -mer- 
chants, and sent a letter to the governor-general, addressed 
as from an equal to an equal. When the governor-gen- 
eral heard of his presence at Canton, he issued a procla- 
mation to the hong-merchants, denouncing what he styled 
an *^ infringement of the established laws," and laying 
down the principle that '^^the Celestial Empire appoints 
officers — civil ones to rule the people, military ones to in- 
timidate the wicked. The petty affairs of commerce are 
to be directed by the merchants themselves ; the officers 
have nothing to hear on the subject." When the letter 
addressed to him was presented he declined to receive it, 
because he feared that he would thereby admit the equal- 
ity of the foreign representative. Both parties stood 
firm, and a dead-lock resulted. Lord Napier refused to 
confer with the hong-merchants, and demanded an au- 
dience, with such treatment as might be "befitting His 
Majesty's commission and the honor of the British na- 
tion" ; while the governor-general refused to receive any 
communication which was not framed and addressed as a 



320 CHINA. 

petition from an inferior to a superior. Messengers were 
sent from one to the other, and much parleying followed, 
but in the end trade was suspended, and Lord Napier re- 
tired to Macao, where he died shortly afterward. There- 
upon trade was resumed, and the Chinese claimed that 
they had *' driven him out" and *^ expelled his ships." 

The principles on which they acted throughout this 
affair are apparent. They feared that if they granted 
official intercourse by letter they would thereby give up 
the whole question, that the King of England could no 
longer be considered as a subject prince ; that both he and 
his people would be released from their allegiance, and, 
finally, that they would want to enter the borders of China 
and take possession of her soil. And here, after all, they 
had a true conception of one of their greatest dangers, 
which has lost nothing by the lapse of time, but is likely 
to increase pari-passu with the growth of the British 
Empire in Southern and Southeastern Asia. 

The English merchants at Canton now took up the 
matter, and sent a petition to the King in Council, recom- 
mending that a commissioner be sent, with a small fleet, to 
one of the northern "ports for the purpose of arranging 
the manner of conducting future intercourse; but this 
sensible suggestion was not adopted. Whether it would 
have been successful, no one can tell ; but, even if it had 
failed, it would at least have strengthened the moral po- 
sition of England. The trade of other nations was sus- 
pended, and resumed with that of England. The Eng- 
lish Government in a measure repudiated the course of 
Lord Napier, and then the English pamphleteers and 
newspaper writers took up the question. Even the Duke 
of Wellington participated in its discussion. Trade went 
on, however, very much as it did before, and efforts were 
made to open new ports, but the Chinese officials did not 
relax their vigilance, and it was found to be impossible to 



GROWTH OF FOREIGN TRADE, 321 

penetrate the country against the will of its rulers. The 
opinion now became wide-spread among them that any 
increase of foreign trade would bring with it unmitigated 
evil, because it would also increase the importation and 
use of opium, which had been first introduced in the ninth 
century, and, from the impulse given it by foreign trade, 
had now come to be looked upon as a national misfor- 
tune. On the other hand. Sir George B. Eobinson, who 
had succeeded Lord Napier, and established his head- 
quarters on an opium-ship, expressed his conviction to 
the home Government that ^^ there was little hope of 
establishing a proper understanding with the Chinese 
Government except by resort to force, and the occupation 
of an island at the mouth of the Canton Eiver." 

Sir George B. Eobinson was in time succeeded by Cap- 
tain Elliot, who dropped the pretension of corresponding 
with the governor-general as an equal, removed to Canton, 
and signified his willingness to " conform in all things to 
the imperial pleasure." Meanwhile, a discussion sprang up 
at Peking between members of the governing class, and 
spread to the provinces, as to the true policy of the Gov- 
ernment in regard to the opium-trade. One party con- 
tended that it was impossible to suppress it, and that it 
should therefore be legalized and regulated, not only for 
the purpose of stimulating home production, but saving 
the money annually sent out of the country for the for- 
eign article. Another party contended strenuously for its 
total suppression, and supported their views by showing 
that it was productive of great suffering and distress, and 
was surely ruining those who used the pernicious drug, 
in health, mind, and property. 

The foreigners, nearly all of whom where engaged in 
the traffic, and were making large sums of money out of 
it, also joined in the discussion, and, I am sorry to say, 
most of them, and especially the English, found excuses 



322 CEmA. 

of one kind and another for advocating the continuance 
of the trade ; but withal, after due deliberation, the Chi- 
nese Emperor Taukwang and his advisers decided against 
legalizing the admission of the drug, because it was in- 
jurious to the Chinese people. They had right on their 
side, but were sorely perplexed by the discussion as well 
as by the evident determination of the English to con- 
tinue the trade, no matter what might be the amount of 
harm done by it. The increasing demand for the drug 
and the large profit realized from smuggling it into the 
country proved too great a temptation for the foreigners, 
and while the English took the lead in the business, all 
nationalities lent a willing hand, according to their op- 
portunities. 

The Emperor, feeling assured, however, of the support 
of the leading men throughout the country, redoubled his 
efforts to suppress the trade. More than one native trader 
was executed for exporting silver and importing opium ; 
smugglers were seized and tortured, boats were captured 
and destroyed, consumers were taxed and threatened with 
death, and every dewe known to the Chinese authorities 
was resorted to for the purpose of keeping opium out of 
China, but all in vain. The Chinese merchants became 
as much interested in the trade as the foreigners ; the cus- 
toms officials connived at it, and even the son of the Gov- 
ernor of Canton took part in it. The coast-guard service 
and the native customs officers became demoralized, and 
in its desperation the Government finally ordered the 
execution of a convicted dealer in front of the foreign 
factories at Canton, hoping thereby to strike terror into 
the hearts of the foreign merchants and their employes, 
but the latter sallied out and drove the executioner away. 
A crowd gathered to see what was going on. The for- 
eigners tried in turn to drive the crowd away ; blows fol- 
lowed, and the foreigners were overpowered and driven 



I 



THE OPIUM-TRADE. 323 

back into the factories. The district magistrate appeared 
upon the scene, followed by lictors and a few soldiers, and 
order was soon restored, but the riot impressed both the 
Government and the people with a feeling of hatred for 
the foreigners, the majority of whom were engaged in the 
opium-trade, and all of whom had now come to be looked 
upon as violators of the law. 

It is impossible to even summarize the events of the 
five years which followed, but in all of that time the Grov- 
ernment did not relax its efforts to suppress the trade. 
It appointed special commissioners, and finally succeeded 
in getting most of the foreign merchants to sign a paper, 
pledging themselves not to deal in opium nor to mtro- 
duce it into China, but this pledge was soon broken by 
most of the parties who had signed it. The Imperial 
Commissioner, in despair, next called upon the foreign 
merchants to surrender all the opium they had in order 
that it might be destroyed, and shortly afterward under 
the advice and guarantee of Captain Elliot, who exceed- 
ed his authority in giving it, the merchants complied. 
They surrendered 20,291 chests of opium, worth nearly 
111,000,000, and it was all effectually destroyed. Sixteen 
English, American, and Parsee merchants were banished, 
and a bond was demanded from those who remained that 
they would not engage in the illegal traffic. General 
trade was alternately suspended and resumed, but the 
opium-ships continued to come and go as before, and the 
traffic in that drug never for one moment ceased. When 
it could not be carried on openly it was carried on by 
smuggling, and always with such profit that no risk was 
regarded as too great to be taken in connection with it. 

On December 6, 1839, the Chinese Commissioner is- 
sued an edict declaring all trade with British merchants at 
an end, and the close of that year saw the two nations in- 
volved in difficulties which rendered war inevitable. 



324: CHINA. 

The British Government regarded itself as in duty 
bound to pay for the opium which its subjects had sur- 
rendered under the advice of its chief superintendent of 
trade, and the latter recommended that the Government 
should compel the Chinese to refund its money-value. 
The question was debated in Parliament, and discussed at 
length in the newspapers of the day, and finally the 
British ministry declared war, for the pupose of obtain- 
ing ** reparation for the insults and injuries offered Her 
Majesty's superintendent and subjects ; indemnification 
for the losses the merchants had sustained under threats 
of violence ; security that persons trading with China 
should in future be protected from insult and injury ; 
and, lastly, that trade should be maintained upon a 
proper footing." 

A formidable expedition, consisting of five ships of 
war, three steamers, and twenty-one transports, made its 
appearance on the Chinese coast July 4, 1841. The next 
day a force of three thousand men landed and captured 
Ting-hai near Ningpo, killing many of the Chinese who 
endeavored to hold the place, and striking terror into the 
hearts of those who escaped. Two days later. Admiral 
Elliot and Captain Elliot, who had been appointed joint 
plenipotentiaries, arrived at Chusan, and demanded that 
the authorities at Ningpo and Amoy should forward a 
letter which they bore from Lord Palmerston, the British 
Prime Minister, to the Emperor at Peking, but this the 
authorities declined to do. The Island of Chusan was 
captured by the British, the Yang-tse and Ming Eivers 
were blockaded, and the Chinese coast was harried and an- 
noyed by the British forces. The plenipotentiaries, find- 
ing that they could produce no impression on the south- 
ern coast, proceeded to the Pei-ho in Northern China, and 
there opened communication through the Governor of 
the province of Chihli, with the Peking Government, 



THE OPIUM WAR 325 

whicli resulted, after much argument and some delay, in 
the appointment of a Chinese plenipotentiary, to meet 
those of Great Britain at Canton. Meantime the Chi- 
nese provincial authorities were busy all along the coast 
in raising troops and making arrangements for defense, 
but, withal, trade was never entirely suspended. The 
British were active and persistent ; several skirmishes oc- 
curred ; several forts were taken ; and in the end the Chi- 
nese plenipotentiary became convinced that successful 
resistance was impossible. 

On the 20th of January, 1842, the English plenipo- 
tentiaries announced that peace had been concluded on 
the condition that the Chinese should cede the island and 
harbor of Hong-Kong to the English ; pay an indemnity 
of six million dollars in annual installments ; permit the 
immediate resumption of British trade at Canton ; and 
finally conduct official intercourse thereafter with the 
British on terms of equality. All other captured points 
were to be restored to the Chinese, and all Chinese pris- 
oners were to be released. It soon, however, became ap- 
parent that this treaty would not be complied with, and 
that the Peking Government had resolved "to destroy, 
wipe, clean away, to exterminate and root out the rebel- 
lious barbarians." Hostilities were renewed, the Bogue 
forts were all taken, many Chinese were killed, and the 
British were within five miles of Canton, when the pre- 
fect, under a flag of truce, met Captain Elliot, and sued 
for a three days' suspension of hostilities, which was 
granted. It, however, expired without leading to satis- 
factory results. The British again advanced, and after 
taking every fort, raft, battery, stockade, and camp, had 
the city at their mercy. A second truce was agreed upon, 
and trade was reopened, but the Chinese steadily pushed 
their warlike preparations. Seeing that nothing would 
satisfy them but absolute defeat and the capture of Can- 



328 cnmA. 

ton, the Brifcish resumed their operations, and driving 
back the Chinese troops, took possession of their last for- 
tifications. Negotiations were again resumed, and a new 
treaty was made, which provided for the payment of six 
million dollars as a ransom for the city, besides addi- 
tional compensation for the loss of foreign property and 
shipping ; and, finally, that the Chinese troops should 
evacuate the city. 

Shortly afterward. Sir Henry Pottinger and Admiral 
Sir William Parker, arrived from England, and assumed 
direction of affairs. They approved the last truce, and 
continued trade at Canton, but in August sailed north- 
ward with a fleet of nine men-of-war, four steamers, 
twenty- three transports, and a force of about thirty-five 
hundred men, captured Amoy, Ting-hai, Chiu-hai, and 
Ningpo, together with many guns, ammunition, and 
property, but the Chinese authorities only redoubled their 
efforts to drive back and destroy the barbarians. T'si-ku 
and Chapu were also taken, and finally the expedition 
entered the Yang-tse-kiang, captured the works at the 
mouth of the Wusung River, and took possession of 
Shanghai, which they ransomed for $300,000. The 
Emperor collected large forces at Chin-kiang, Nanking, 
Suchau, and at Tientsin. The British expedition, re- 
enforced by a strong detachment under Lord Saltoun, 
now proceeded up the Yang-tse, for the purpose of break- 
ing the Grand Canal. After a sanguinary engagement 
they captured Chin-kiang, took possession of Iching, and 
invested the old capital of Nanking. So vigorous were 
their operations, and so helpless had the Chinese showed 
themselves to be, that there was no longer any doubt, 
even in their own minds, of their entire overthrow, and 
the invincibility of the British land and naval forces. 
Negotiations were again opened, and after the exhibition 
of full powers by the plenipotentiaries of both sides, ac- 



TEE OPIUM WAR. 327 

companied by many ceremonies and formalities, the 
Opium War was concluded by a treaty which covered the 
following important points : A lasting peace between the 
two nations ; the opening of Canton, Amoy, Fuchau, 
Ningpo, and Shanghai, to British trade, under a well-un- 
derstood tariff ; the cession of the Island of Hong-Kong 
to Her Majesty ; the payment of $6,000,000 for the opium 
destroyed at Canton ; $3,000,000 for the debts due the 
British merchants ; and $12,000,000 for the expenses of 
the British expedition, the entire amount of $21,000,000 
to be paid before January 1, 1846 ; the release of all pris- 
oners held by the Chinese ; the pardon of all Chinese 
subjects who had aided the invaders ; the establishment 
of a regular and fair tariff and transit dues ; the conduct 
of all official correspondence on terms of equality ; and 
the restoration of places held by the British according to 
payments agreed upon therefor. 

The victory of the British was complete, but it will 
be observed that the traffic in opium was not even men- 
tioned in the treaty. It is said, curiously enough, that 
the Chinese plenipotentiaries declined to discuss the sub- 
ject until they were assured that it had been brought up 
by Sir Henry Pottinger merely as a topic for private con- 
versation ; but it is much more likely that the victors 
would not permit it to be made a subject of negotiation. 
The trade was evidently too valuable to be given up in a 
treaty, every provision of which was clearly wrung from 
the Chinese by the might of British arms. There is 
abundant evidence for the statement that the Chinese 
appealed in vain for fair treatment in regard to the im- 
portation and growth of the drug, which they justly look 
upon as a curse to the human family. They asked the 
British to prohibit the cultivation of the poppy, but this 
they declined to do, under the plea that such action 
would be inconsistent with British laws, and inefficacious 



328 CHINA. 

besides. They claimed that if they did not supply the 
demand for the drug others would, and eyen suggested 
that the Chinese should legalize the traffic, and thus limit 
the facilities for smuggling. 

It is not my purpose to point out the immorality of 
the course adopted by the British in regard to this mat- 
ter, for, whatever may be the facts of the case, or the 
consequences flowing therefrom, it is certain that all 
other nationalities were equally guilty with the British, 
according to their opportunities, in engaging in the trade, 
and that so far no power has made it unlawful by treaty 
except the United States, and even they have failed to 
pass laws for the punishment of such as violate the treaty. 

My purpose in summarizing the events of the Opium 
War is to call attention to the fact that two hundred 
years of peaceful commerce at Canton had produced no 
direct effect whatever upon the Chinese people or their 
Government, except to convince them that the foreigners 
were all alike, greedy and turbulent. It brought with it 
no benefit, except the little that flowed from the sale of 
tea and silk, and the purchase of a few articles of foreign 
manufacture, and this was offset ten thousand-fold by the 
opium scourge, which has become a source of never-end- 
ing misery to the Chinese people. Indeed, it is apparent 
that commerce alone, conducted, as it was, through fac- 
tories, trade superintendents, and hong-merchants, could 
never have in any way changed the manners and customs 
of the Chinese, much less could it have modified the 
polity of the Chinese Government, or brought it to realize 
that the Chinese Emperor was not sovereign lord over all 
the nations of the earth. Throughout the whole period, 
from the beginning of foreign trade with the Chinese 
down to the Treaty of Nanking, it is evident that the 
Chinese literati, as well as the Chinese Government, re- 
garded all outside nations not only as barbarians but as 



EFFECTS OF THE OPIUM WAR. 329 

subjects of their Emperor. They considered all ambassa- 
dors and ministers as tribute-bearers, and all presents to 
their Emperor as an acknowledgment of his sovereignty. 

The Opium War dispelled this illusion forever, and 
opened the eyes of the Chinese to the terrible efficiency 
of modern military enginery. It showed them that their 
vast numbers were powerless against foreigners in war- 
fare, and that their Government could not protect them 
for a moment against the cupidity of the latter, when 
once it had been aroused. But what is still more impor- 
tant is, that it resulted not only in the exaction of an 
enormous indemnity for the alleged injuries inflicted, but 
opened many new ports to foreign trade and settlement, 
in each of which the Chinese absolutely, though unwit- 
tingly, yielded the right of the British Government to 
control the persons and property of its subjects residing 
therein. The other foreign powers claimed for them- 
selves and their merchants all the privileges granted to 
the British, although they had taken no part in the 
Opium War, and the Chinese yielded without dispute, 
perhaps without even knowing, at first, that there w^as 
any difference whatever between the outside barbarians. 
Thus the exercise of exterritorial jurisdiction, and the 
custom of co-operation between foreign nations in China, 
had their origin, and thus the isolation and pretended 
supremacy of the Chinese Government were ended for- 
ever. Commerce alone had done nothing, but commerce 
and war together had shown themselves to be invincible. 
They had secured a firm foothold for foreigners and for- 
eign civilization upon Chinese soil. Tariff and commer- 
cial regulations were now adopted and carried into effect, 
for the government of Chinese trade '^ with all countries 
as well as of England. Henceforth, then," says the edict 
of Ki-ying, the Imperial Commissioner, " the weapons of 
war shall be forever laid aside, and joy and profit shall 



330 CEINA. 

be the perpetual lot of all." Trade acquired a new im- 
petus at Canton, and was speedily opened at all the other 
ports. The Americans and French made treaties without 
delay ; and the former, negotiated in 1844, by the late 
Caleb Cushing, was so clear and distinct in its terms and 
provisions that it served as a model "for all others up to 
1860. The Chinese paid the indemnity of $21,000,000, 
and, notwithstanding the terrible lesson they had re- 
ceived, and the continued activity and baleful effects of the 
opium-trade, the country seemed to be fairly prosperous 
and peaceful. There was still some hostility to foreign- 
ers, and especially at Canton, where the British had to 
again resort to force in 1847. They once more battered 
down the Bogue forts, and compelled the Chinese, by 
force rather than by argument, to grant a larger space 
for residences and warehouses on the south side of Pearl 
Eiver, and also to consent that the city gates should be 
opened to foreigners after two years. When the time 
came around, this agreement was repudiated, and the 
British wisely forbore to insist upon its enforcement. 
Activity prevailed in the settlement, and the gates of 
Canton were not freely opened to the foreigners till 1858. 



CHAPTER XX. 

History of the Taiping rebellion again adverted to — The operation of the 
treaties — The rapid increase of trade — The establishment of the 
maritime customs under foreign management — The influence of 
Canton and the Cantonese — The aifair of the Chinese lorcha Arrow 
— The first and only difficulty with Americans — Demands of Eng- 
land, Russia, France, and the United States upon the Peking Gov- 
ernment — The Emperor and court greatly alarmed — The practice 
and doctrine of co-operation— The allied fleets proceed to the Pei-ho 
— Negotiation — Signature of the treaties — Principal concessions — 
The affairs of the Taku forts — The British repulse — Return of the 
allies — Capture of the forts and the advance to Peking — Treaties 
ratified and exchanged — Death of the Emperor Hien-fung — The 
regency — The influences surrounding the present Emperor — The 
necessity for Western education. 

As before stated, the detailed history of the Taiping 
rebellion, which started as a sort of Christian uprising, and 
became, in some degree, a national revolt against the Man- 
chu power, ravaged the country for seventeen years, and 
cost the lives of from ten to twenty million Chinamen, does 
not come within the scope of this work. I have briefly 
adverted to its iDfluence in educating the Chinese Govern- 
ment and the leading Chinese statesmen, and have specially 
pointed out how it brought Li Hung-Charig, Tseng Quo- 
Fan, Tseng Quo-Chu'an, and Tso Tsung-Tang, as well as 
the thousands of nameless soldiers who took part in it, 
into daily contact with foreigners, and gave them a better 
understanding than they could otherwise have obtained 



332 CHINA. 

of the superiority of foreign arms, organization, and dis- 
cipline. It is now almost certain that if Hung Tse- 
Ohuen, the rebel leader, had adopted true instead of spu- 
rious Christianity, and called capable foreign advisers to 
his assistance, he would most probably have secured the 
countenance of the foreign powers, and ultimately over- 
thrown the Imperial Government. But his head was 
turned by his early successes ; he grew insolent and care- 
less ; his pretentions were exposed ; foreign sympathy was 
withdrawn from his cause, and finally foreign skill, cour- 
age, and arms were combined by the imperial leaders to 
bring about his overthrow and destruction. The rebel- 
lion had an inglorious ending ; but its influences and les- 
sons were yet to be disseminated broadcast throughout 
the empire. Everywhere the story was told of the 
"foreign devils" who led the '' Ever- Victorious Army." 
Their courage was extolled, the power and destructive- 
ness of their arms were exaggerated, and their marvel- 
ous achievements were loudly praised even within the 
sacred precincts of the Throne. But, what is still more 
significant, is the fact that the Emperor, in acknowledg- 
ment of their extraordinary services, bestowed posthu- 
mous honors upon Ward, and granted money, titles, and, 
above all, the '^Yellow- Jacket" to Gordon, by edicts 
which were officially promulgated in every province. 
This put the seal of authenticity upon the story which 
had already penetrated to the remotest corners of the em- 
pire. The interest and curiosity of all classes had been 
profoundly moved ; and although, in a country where 
there is no public press, and intercommunication is neces- 
sarily so imperfect, the effect of all this was more or less 
evanescent, it is certain that a large part of it was radi- 
cal and permanent, and that, even to a greater extent 
than ever before in China, War had shown herself to be 
the most efficient servant of Progress. 



GROWTH OF FOREIGN- SETTLEMENTS. 333 

Under its influence commerce was greatly stimulated 
at the five open ports, and especially at Shanghai. The 
foreign population increased threefold, steamship compa- 
nies were organized, steamboats were introduced, foreign 
settlements grew up, and all the appliances of foreign 
civilization were brought into the country. 

Under the operation of the treaties, the relations of 
the Chinese and foreigners gradually adjusted themselves 
on a fairly satisfactory basis. The foreigners claimed the 
right to mark off and occupy a separate tract of land ad- 
joining the native city at each treaty port, and to govern 
themselves according to their own customs and laws. The 
Chinese authorities unwittingly conceded this right, and 
thus grew up what has come to be known as the ''for- 
eign concessions," which are governed by the consuls of 
the treaty powers, or by local city authorities, deriving 
their power from the consuls. The English and French 
carried this right so far that they even claimed absolute 
jurisdiction over Chinese subjects who were found within 
the limits of their allotted districts. 

The rapid increase of trade, and the great influx of 
foreigners, all of whom were entirely ignorq.nt of the 
Chinese language, gave rise to the necessity for many in- 
terpreters, and experienced Chinese traders or compra- 
dores, and these were naturally looked for at Canton, 
where business had been carried on with foreigners for 
over two hundred years. This accounts for the fact that 
the Cantonese hold most of the higher places in the for- 
eign hongs at all the treaty ports. Many of them speak 
*'pidgin English" (business English), and are shrewd, 
capable servants of their employers, but withal they do 
not fail to take care of their own interests at the same 
time. It is worthy of note that the British and other 
powers have always been able to employ as many Canton- 
ese as they wanted to assist them in their hostile opera- 



334: CHINA. 

tions against China, and that for that reason, if for no 
other, the people of North and Central China are not 
overfond of the Cantonese, but are disposed to look up- 
on them rather as foreigners than natives of their com- 
mon country. 

Owing to the disturbed condition of affairs which the 
rebellion brought about at Shanghai in 1853, it became 
necessary for the native collector of customs to remove 
the custom-house to the foreign settlement. He had 
formerly been a hong-merchant at Canton, and as such 
had acquired confidence in the ability and honesty of the 
foreign merchants, and therefore willingly entered into 
an arrangement for putting the collection of foreign du- 
ties into the hands of three commissioners, to be selected 
by the English, American, and French consuls respect- 
ively. The chief duty of organizing the service fell up- 
on Mr. Wade (afterward Sir Thomas Wade), who spoke 
Chinese fluently. He was succeeded by Mr. Lay, of the 
English consulate, and he in turn by Mr. (now Sir Eob- 
ert) Hart. This was a wise measure ; it has been car- 
ried into effect at all the treaty ports, and has led to far- 
reaching ponsequeTlces. The service was ably organized 
and honestly administered ; it has now over a thousand 
foreign employes, representing nearly every nationality, 
and is an ever-present proof to the Imperial Government 
of the superiority of foreign over native methods of con- 
ducting public business. The amount of revenue col- 
lected has advanced from about five million to nearly 
twenty million dollars per year, without any increase of 
the fixed tariff rate of five per cent ad valorem; but 
what is more important is the fact that the money is all 
honestly collected and paid over to the imperial treasury, 
and this is the only branch of the Chinese revenue serv- 
ice of which as much can be said. In addition to col- 
lecting and accounting for the maritime customs, the 



TEE IMPERIAL MARITIME CUSTOMS. 335 

department has established lighthouses and buoys at the 
entrances to the treaty ports, and at many other points 
along the Chinese coast. It has, in later years, estab- 
lished an efficient revenue-cutter service, and has begun 
the work of sounding and surveying the places most dan- 
gerous to steam navigation. Moreover, nothing which 
the Chinese Government has ever done has gone so far 
toward breaking up the smuggling of opium, and it is safe 
to say that if it is ever broken up altogether it must be 
done through the agency of this effective organiza- 
tion. 

Notwithstanding the large number of Cantonese em- 
ployed by foreign merchants, and the great amount of 
business done at the port of Canton, there has always 
been more friction between the natives and foreigners at 
that place than at any other in China. As the Taiping 
rebellion approached that city, the foreign merchants 
who sympathized with them at first made unusual exer- 
tions to sell them arms and military supplies. Civil war 
broke out in the city, and several hundred thousands of 
lives and many houses were destroyed. The consuls at 
the settlement and at Hong-Kong were powerless to re- 
strain the cupidity of their countrymen, and, to make 
matters worse, the Chinese governor-general obstinately 
refused to see any foreign minister. In his blind efforts 
to suppress smuggling, he was arbitrary and unreasonable 
toward the foreigners. The British availed themselves 
of the opportunity to build up and develop the trade of 
Hong-Kong. They made it a free port, reduced the 
charges upon shipping to almost nothing, and did all in 
their power to induce Chinese vessels to carry on trade 
under the British flag. An enormous smuggling trade 
was developed in opium, in spite of the Chinese revenue 
service to suppress it. Coolies were kidnapped and sold 
to the Portuguese barracoons at Macao, and piracy be- 



336 CHIXA, 

came common. The Chinese lorclia * Arrow, sailing under 
a British register which had expired, was suspected of be- 
ing engaged in contraband trade, and was seized, and the 
British ensign was hauled down. The British consul, 
Mr. Parkes, and the British governor-general of Hong- 
Kong, Sir John Bowring, immediately demanded re- 
dress ; but the Chinese goyernor-general was obdurate, 
and could not see that any reparation was due. 

During the complications with the British (in 1856), 
the Americans for the first and only time became involved 
in difficulty with the Chinese. An American man-of- 
war's boat had been fired into by design or mistake at the 
Barrier forts, and one man had been killed. Commodore 
Armstrong, who was lying near by with the San Jacinto, 
Portsmouth, and Levant, at once attacked and captured 
the forts, killing several hundred of their defenders, and 
with that the matter was allowed to drop. Not so with 
the British. They sent at once to India for re-enforce- 
ments and to England for instructions. The condition 
of affairs at Canton was discussed in Parliament, and the 
British Government resolved to follow up the Treaty of 
Nanking by demanding the reception and residence of 
a British minister at Peking. France, Eussia, and the 
United States were invited to co-operate, for the common 
benefit of Christendom. Special plenipotentiaries of great 
skill and ability were appointed by the European powers, 
as well as by the United States, and by the end of the 
year 1856 they had arrived at Canton in great ships of 
war, and, after their ultimatum had been delivered, they 
landed an allied force of about six thousand men and 
captured the city. The governor-general and all the high 
officials were taken prisoners, and a new government, com- 
posed of high Chinese officials under the protection of the 

* A foreign-built hull with Chinese rig. 



AFFAIR OF THE LORCEA ARROW, 337 

allies, was at once set up. Order was promptly restored, 
and the Cantonese were shown for the first time how 
just and reasonable the foreigners could be toward 
them, and yet how firmly they could deal with their 
rulers. 

The allied ministers now proposed to the American 
and Eussian plenipotentiaries, who had taken no part in 
the hostile operations, but had satisfied themselves with 
playing the part of deeply interested spectators, to join 
them in laying their demands before the Imperial Goy- 
ernment at Peking. Letters were written by all and duly 
forwarded ; but the Chinese Emperor and his court were 
greatly alarmed, and could not bring themselves to con- 
sent to receive the representatives of the hated foreigners 
at the capital. Such a thing had never been done, and 
so evasive answers were returned. The powerful fleet of 
the allies, accompanied by the American and Eussiau 
men-of-war, proceeded at once to the Pei-ho, forced the 
batteries at its mouth, and sent the ministers forward to 
Tientsin. Here they were received by two high Chinese 
commissioners, and negotiations were at once opened. 
The British minister. Lord Elgin, took the lead in the 
discussions. The Chinese were overawed, and, ^Mgnorant 
beyond conception of the gravity of their situation," they 
granted almost everything that was asked of them ; and 
the treaties thus negotiated, or, perhaps, I should say 
forced upon the Chinese, became bound into one mass by 
the favored -nation clause, which they all contained, and 
by the doctrine of co-operation, which then for the first 
time was practically carried into effect by the four great 
powers of the world, although it must not be forgotten 
that the representatives of the United States and Eussia 
had been specially instructed not to resort to force, and 
had not been consulted by Lord Elgin. The situation was 
tersely summed up m the declaration made by him that 
15 



338 cnmA. 

he "was compelled to treat with persons who yield nothing 
to reason and everything to fear, and who are at the same 
time profoundly ignorant of the subjects under discus- 
sion and of their own real interests." Another British 
officer still more pithily expressed it by saying, ** Two 
powers had China by the throat, while the other two stood 
by to Qgg them on, so that all could share the spoil." 
And, arbitrary as all this was, the obstinacy, exclusive- 
ness, and folly of the Imperial Goyernment left the for- 
eigners no other course to pursue. 

By the first week of July, 1858, the four treaties had 
been signed and ratified by the Emperor Hienfung, and 
the fleet had left the Pei-ho. The tariff was revised shortly 
afterward, and through the persistence of the British was 
made a part of the treaties, the opium-trade was legalized 
at a low rate of duty, which removed from it alike the 
necessity for smuggling, and the stigma of immorality 
which had hitherto been attached to it. Hang-kow, on 
the banks of the Yang-tse, a thousand miles from the 
sea, was declared a treaty port, and opened to foreign 
residence and business ; missionaries were granted the 
right to travel tliroughout the land and preach the gos- 
pel ; and foreign ministers were authorized to reside at 
Peking ; but the four envoys returned home without vis- 
iting that far-famed city. 

The Chinese authorities at once began reconstructing 
the fortifications at the mouth of the Pei-ho, on what they 
considered to be foreign plans, and every effort was made 
to prevent the return of the allies. Peking had been des- 
ignated as the place for the exchange of the treaties, but 
the Chinese sent commissioners to Shanghai, and exerted 
all their arts of diplomacy to get the French and English 
envoys to go through with the ceremony at that place, 
but in vain. 

The British endeavored to force their way again (June 



THE TAKU FORTS. 339 

29, 1859) into the Pei-ho, but they were repulsed, with 
the loss of eighty-nine killed and three hundred and 
forty-five wounded. It was during this action that Com- 
modore Tatnall lowered his gig, and, with the declaration 
that ^^ blood is thicker than water," towed boat-loads of 
British marines into action. 

The American minister and his suite landed at Peh- 
tang and made their way overland to Peking, but, owing 
to the difficulty of arriving at a satisfactory agreement 
in regard to the ceremonies to be observed, did not have 
audience with the Emperor. The latter waved the re- 
quirement of the hotoiv, or prostration in his presence, 
and suggested the bending of one knee, but as there had 
been some inadvertent suggestion of a religious signifi- 
cance to the ceremony, even after it had been shorn of its 
more objectionable features, Mr. Ward determined to re- 
turn to Pehtang and exchange the ratifications of the 
treaty at that place. There was no special violation of 
right in this, for the American treaty was silent in refer- 
ence to the place at which the ratification should be ex- 
changed ; but it must be confessed that, having gone to 
Peking by invitation, his retirement without accomplish- 
ing the object for which he had gone was justly regarded 
by the representatives of the other powers as a sacrifice of 
dignity more or less injurious and embarrassing to them. 

The British, smarting under their repulse from the 
Pei-ho, opened negotiations at once with their allies the 
French, and the two powers agreed to send back the 
plenipotentiaries who had negotiated the treaties, at the 
head of a powerful fleet and a strong land-force. The 
united fleet and transports contained over two hundred 
vessels, carrying about twenty thousand men, and pre- 
sented by far the most formidable array of power that had 
ever been brought to bear against the Chinese Empire. 

The plenipotentiaries arrived at Chee-fu in July, 1860, 



340 CHINA, 

and at once made known their demands in no uncertain 
terms. They required an apology for the repulse of the 
English at the Pei-ho, the ratification and exchange of 
the treaties at Peking, and that they should be carried 
into effect without further delay, and finally that the 
Chinese should pay the expenses incurred by the allies. 
The Chinese replied as usual with indirect and evasive 
language, so there was nothing left for the allies but to 
make sail for the coast of Chihli, land their troops, and 
force their way to Peking, and this they proceeded to do. 
They disembarked at the mouth of the Pehtang, about 
ten miles north of the Pei-ho, turned the forts at Taku, 
took them in the rear and captured them. They then 
marched at once for Tientsin, which, although strongly 
fortified, was surrendered without a battle. 

The Chinese now offered to treat, but, finding that 
they were trifling and trying to gain time rather than to 
comply with what was asked of them, the foreign pleni- 
potentiaries broke up the conference and resumed their 
march toward the capital. They had not gone far, how- 
ever, before they found themselves confronted by a large 
army ; hence they advanced with circumspection and 
always in readiness for battle. The Chinese redoubled 
their efforts to stay the approach of the foreigners, and 
sent out great dignitaries with fair protestations and 
urgent offers to exchange and ratify the treaties. The 
allies paused again, and sent forward Mr. (afterward Sir) 
Harry Parkes, to select a camp and arrange terms. He 
was received with all external marks of courtesy, but soon 
discovered that the Chinese generalissimo. Prince Sanko- 
linsin, was preparing an ambush for the allied army. On 
endeavoring to make his way back to the latter, he and 
most of his companions were taken prisoners, hurried off 
to Peking, and treated with great cruelty. The allied 
commanders discovered the perfidy of the Chinese, and. 



THE ALLIED ARMIES AT PEKING. 341 

advancing to the attack, drove them in confusion from the 
field, captured eighty cannon and burned their camps. 
Several minor engagements followed, in which the allies 
were easily victorious. The Emperor and court fled hastily 
to Jehol, on the borders of Manchuria, and left Prince 
Kung, the second brother of the Emperor, to make the 
best peace he could. Meanwhile the allies advanced with 
deliberation to the immediate vicinity of Peking, burned 
and pillaged the Summer Palace and all the neighboring 
villas as an act of retribution upon the Chinese for their 
violation of the flag of truce carried by Mr. Parkes, and 
for the savage treatment inflicted upon him and his com- 
panions during their imprisonment. The Chinese Gov- 
ernment was powerless to resist the demands contained 
in the ultimatum of the allies. The treaties were ratified 
and exchanged with great pomp inside the imperial city, 
an additional sum of £100,000 was exacted for the bene- 
fit of the prisoners and their families, and another of 
8,000,000 taels to defray the expenses of the victors. 
Kowlung, on the mainland opposite to Hong-Kong, was 
ceded to the British ; permission was given for the emi- 
gration of Chinese, coolies either voluntarily or under 
contract ; and the question of the residence of foreign 
ministers at Peking on terms of equality, and their re- 
ception by the Emperor, without the Tcotow or any other 
form of humiliation, was settled forever. The French 
as well as the English received a money indemnity, but, 
instead of asking for a concession of land, they demanded 
and received payment at Peking for all the churches, 
schools, cemeteries, lands, and buildings wrested from 
the persecuted native Christians throughout the empire 
in years gone by. 

War and diplomacy were again signally triumphant ; 
they secured for the foreigners all that the plenipoten- 
tiaries asked for, and they asked for all they thought of ; 



342 CHINA. 

and yet their yictory was not complete. The walls of 
exclusion were broken down in a measure, but the 
huge, lumbering machinery of the Chinese govern- 
ment was not exposed or interfered with. The Emperor 
and most of the court had fled, and the latter did not 
return till the allied army had departed. They never 
saw its terrible enginery, nor obtained any adequate 
conception of its organization, discipline, and power. It 
is true that the Emperor had signified his willingness to 
receive the foreign diplomatists, but death intervened at 
his place of retreat to spare him that humiliation. The 
allied armies hurried to get out of the country. Peking 
by some strange oversight was not opened to trade or 
foreign settlement, and as soon as the Government, which 
had now passed into the hands of a regency, composed of 
Prince Kung and the two Empresses-Dowager, returned 
to the capital, it shut itself up v/ithin the walls of the 
Forbidden City, and would have nothing to do with the 
resident diplomatists that they could avoid. As far as 
possible they ignored the occurrences of the last year, and 
resumed their usual sway over their distressed and im- 
poverished country. Had the successful plenipotentiaries 
and the allied army remained long enough to hale the 
Government from the Forbidden City and compel it to 
conduct its operations in the light of day, and to treat 
with foreign ministers, without unnecessary or vexatious 
restrictions, through the members of the regency, they 
would have greatly facilitated the progress of modern 
ideas and that enlightenment of the governing class 
without which it is impossible to secure an intelligent 
administration of the government. 

The Emperor Hienfung died August 17, 1861, leaving 
the throne to his son, then only six years old. The latter 
assumed the direction of affairs in 1872, at the real age 
of sixteen, though the Chinese called him seventeen. 



RECEPTION OF FOREIGN MINISTERS. 343 

The country had been pacified throughout its extent, and 
a fair degree of prosperity had returned to it. The ques- 
tion of the reception of the foreign ministers now came 
up again, and after a long and careful discussion was set- 
tled to their satisfaction. The kotow was dispensed with, 
and the ceremony, as finally carried into effect, was not 
accompanied by any extraordinary circumstance to mark 
its significance. The young Emperor was a puppet in 
the hands of his family, and fortunately for himself, if 
not for his country, he died on January 9, 1875. The 
Government again passed under the control of the re- 
gency, and remained there down to February 7th of the 
present year. As stated in a previous chapter, the Em- 
press of the Eastern Palace, the senior co-regent, died 
on the 4th of April, 1881, and left the Government to the 
sole control of her sister. During the two regencies, 
a period of over twenty years, the dowagers and their 
surroundings have remained in absolute seclusion. No 
foreign minister or official, and no foreigner of any 
rank, has ever had audience with either of them ; so that 
although the foreign ministers are comfortably settled in 
Peking, and are in no way molested by the people or the 
Government, they are practically ignored, and exert little 
or no influence for good. Most of the questions which 
they might consider with the Chinese Government are 
referred to the First Grand Secretary, Li Hung-Chang, 
for settlement, or to some consul, for investigation and 
report. They can not reach any member or department 
of the Government which has power to act. The walls 
of the Forbidden City, within which the court and most 
of the great dignitaries reside, are completely shut to 
them. They may go to the Tsung li Yamen, or Board 
of Foreign Affairs, but, as before explained, that board, 
like all the others, has advisory powers only, and can not 
act except by command of the Emperor. 



344: cnmA, 

Now that the young Emperor has taken personal 
charge of the government, the foreign ministers will 
again claim audience, and it must be granted ; but it is 
safe to say that little can come of it. The foreign minis- 
ters have quite recently been received by his father, the 
Seventh Prince, and the latter has shown himself to be a 
courteous gentleman ; and many believe him to be an able 
and progressive statesman. It is supposed by some that 
he, or his elder brother Prince Kung, will have a potential 
influence in shaping the policy of the Emperor, and that, 
owing to the youth and inexperience of the latter, one or 
the other, instead of the Empress-Dowager, will become 
the power behind the Throne. But this is all conjecture. 
In any other country it might readily be as suggested, but 
in China tradition, old custom, and the code determine 
everything ; and those who hold the reins of power are 
the judges. It is hardly to be supposed that a regent 
who has had supreme control of the country for nearly 
a quarter of a century, and is still in the full vigor of life, 
will lay down all her influence even if she does go into 
absolute retirement, and no longer seek to control the con- 
duct of the Empercfr whom she had selected, or to direct 
the Government over which she has so long been an abso- 
lute Empress. There is no doubt that she is a strong, 
vigorous woman, and altogether the wisest and best ruler 
the country has had since the death of Kienlung; and 
whether she retain the substance or only the semblance of 
power, will probably depend altogether upon herself. The 
most natural solution of the difficulty is that she and the 
Seventh Prince will remain for many years the principal 
advisers of the Emperor, notwithstanding the absurd cus- 
toms in the way of their free intercourse. And hence 
the great question with foreigners, which still remains to 
be solved, is how to reach and influence those two great 
personalities ? So far only one of them has come within 



THE SEVENTH PRIN(fE, 345 

the reach of foreign ideas, and that only to a limited de- 
gree. During the recent visit of the Seventh Prince to 
Tientsin, Taku, Port Arthur, and Ohee-fu, he saw foreign- 
built ships and heavy guns, and met foreign consuls, for 
the first time. He is said to be the intimate friend of 
Li Hung-Ohang, and it is certain that he will hereafter 
see much of that astute statesman, if he takes an active 
interest in the Admiralty Board, of which they are both, 
members. It is also said that he is on most excellent 
terms with the Empress-Dowager, and that both have 
expressed themselves in favor of railroads, as well as of 
steamboats and telegraphs. What little is known of the 
two, favors this statement ; but, after all, they, like the 
rest of mankind, are likely to be controlled by their sur- 
roundings, their servants, friends, and intimates, first, 
and their official advisers afterward ; and there is too 
much reason for believing that they are in nowise differ- 
ent from the classes to which they respectively belong. 
The Chinese are wonderfully alike, without respect to 
station, in their ignorance of what constitutes progress, 
and in believing that their own wisdom is superior to that 
of any other people. Education can alone change all 
this, and education, in a broad and comprehensive sense, 
whether it be by war, diplomacy, commerce, missiona- 
ries, or the school-teacher, or by all combined, must prove 
to be a slow process, in a country of such wide extent 
and so completely isolated, and with a people of so many 
millions, speaking a language so utterly unlike the modern 
scientific languages used by the rest of the world. 



CHAPTER XXL 

The rights of missionaries in China — The Tientsin massacre — The 
French and Russians indemnified — The influence of the missionaries 
generally minimized — ^Ancestral worship and superstition — The prac- 
tice of fung-shuy — The conversatism of the governing class — The 
censors — Chinese statesmen are progressing — The establishment of 
the Tung- wen College — The Burlingame mission — The Chinese stu- 
dents in America — Their recall — The Emperor all-powerful — Rail- 
ways wanted by leading statesmen — Difficulties to be overcome — 
Probable solution of the question — The duty of our own Govern- 
ment — ^Impossible to predict when China will move — Surrounded by 
great perils — Russia's menacing position — The British Indian Em- 
pire — Their permanent interests — But little danger from Germany 
and France — The Chinese may perceive their real danger — Not a 
warlike people — Their true policy — The victories of peace. 

Amokg the results of war, secured by the demands of 
diplomacy, there are none more important than the right 
to the missionaries of all nations to travel and preach in 
China. This right was finally accorded by the treaties of 
Tientsin, but it was not generally used till 1861, nor clearly 
defined till later. From that time men and women of 
every Christian denomination have traveled and resided in 
every province of that widely-extended empire. They have 
generally been received with nothing worse than indiffer- 
ence, although occasional instances of rudeness and even 
of outrage upon them have been reported in the far-away 
districts. The Jesuits have reclaimed their old churches 
and property, in many cases where it had been out of 
their possession for nearly two hundred years, and the 



TEE TIENTSIN MASSACRE. 347 

Protestant denominations have established permanent 
missions, schools, and hospitals, at all the treaty ports, 
Peking, and many of the provincial capitals. 

The outbreak against the Jesuits and Sisters of Charity 
at Tientsin, which occurred on the 21st of June, 1870, 
resulted in the massacre of twenty French and Russians, 
the destruction of the French consulate, cathedral, and 
orphanage. It was instigated by ignorance and supersti- 
tion, and was attended by circumstances of great atroc- 
ity.* It was investigated somewhat tardily by the Pe- 
king Government. Foreign men-of-war were assembled 
in a few weeks ; the guilty, so far as they could be found, 
were punished ; the sum of four hundred thousand taels 
was paid to the French ; indemnity was also given to the 
Russians ; the premises destroyed were rebuilt ; and gen- 
erally the Chinese authorities did as much as could rea- 
sonably be expected of them in restoring order, repairing 
the damage done, and in taking precautions for the pre- 
vention of similar outbreaks elsewhere. The incident, 
unfortunate as it was, has not been without its benefits to 
the missionaries of all denominations. It has made them 
more circumspect, and the natives everywhere more tol- 
erant and unsuspicious. The authorities were fearful that 
all the foreign powers would become aroused, and would 
unite in demanding further guarantees, and hence they 
voluntarily laid down a set of rules for the government of 
officials everywhere, and for the promotion of the safety 
of all foreigners traveling under passport beyond the lim- 
its of the settlements ; and it may be said — whether through 
the effect of these rules, or the natural mildness of the 
natives, is immaterial — that missionaries of both sexes 
now penetrate into the remotest districts of the empire 
in almost perfect safety. The people are full of curiosity, 

* " Middle Kingdom," vol. ii, p. 700, et seq. 



34:8 CHmA. 

and sometimes annoy travelers by exhibiting an excess of 
that very excusable quality, but it hardly ever happens 
that they wantonly misuse anybody, even in the remoter 
and more unfrequented regions. The missionaries are 
nominally required to have passports, but it is claimed by 
the Chinese that this is rather for keeping track of and 
protecting them, than for the purpose of putting any re- 
strictions upon their right to come and go without let or 
hindrance. 

It is quite the custom of merchants and secular people 
generally to minimize the services and utility of the mis- 
sionaries in China, and, so far as the making of intelligent 
and genuine converts to Christianity is concerned, it must 
be admitted that the results are discouraging ; but when 
it is considered that the brave men and women of all de- 
nominations, who are carrying the gospel to every town 
and district in the empire, are the advance-guard of a 
higher and better civilization, and are gradually teaching 
the Chinese that the foreigners are not '' devils " but in- 
telligent and kindly people, striving to do them good and 
not evil, and that many of them not only understand the 
precepts of 'Hhe sagfis and philosophers," but teach even 
a higher form of humanity, it will be seen that their labors 
are far from wasted. If, in addition to the hospitals and 
primary schools, which constitute so large a part of the 
working machinery of the missionaries, they could have 
a system of technological schools, or at least a series of 
lectures upon science and mechanics, with apparatus and 
machinery established in the larger cities, and made free 
for all to attend, the aim being to show that the arts and 
sciences of foreigners are better than those known to the 
Chinese, I do not doubt that in the end Christian truth 
and morals would find a much more ready lodgment 
than they now find in the native mind. As it is at pres- 
ent, no Chinaman belonging to the literary class will at- 



BUDDHISM AND FURG-SHUY. 3^9 

tend a Christian meeting or listen to a Christian teacher. 
Serene in the conviction that there never was a greater sage 
and philosopher than Confucius, with the writings of whom 
he is well acquainted, he thinks it absurd to waste time with 
any one who claims to bring him " good tidings of great 
joy," whether they come from Christ or Buddha. Nomi- 
nally the religion of the latter is adopted and practiced by 
many people in China, but so far as I could see it is not 
a living cult, nor are the Chinese a religious people in 
any sense whatever. Ancestral worship is perhaps the 
most vital form of religion among them, and that, al- 
though based upon immemorial custom, needs the strong 
hand of the Imperial Government to keep it alive. Su- 
perstition, or the science of good and bad luck, if I may 
coin a phrase, the meaning of which neither the words 
geomancy nor fortune-telling properly conveys, and which 
the Chinese comprehend under the words ^\fung shuy,''^ 
literally, *^wind and water," constitutes by far the most 
potential factor in the daily conduct of the average Chi- 
naman's life. It regulates all his important transactions, 
and the fung-shuy man is his counselor and guide in 
youth, manhood, and old age. He tells what day is lucky 
for starting on a journey, or marrying, or for beginning 
business ; what place is lucky ; and how the house or the 
grave should face in order to insure the happiness of its 
occupant. He finds lost or hidden property, tells for- 
tunes, and directs in all difficult matters. He is paid ac- 
cording to the importance of the occasion and the wealth 
of the man or the family he is serving ; and if he is not 
formally employed, he makes himself disagreeable by com- 
menting unfavorably, by predicting misfortune and dis- 
aster, or even by stirring up the prejudices of the vicious 
and ignorant against those who think they can get on 
without him. The practice of fung shuy is an occult 
trade, in which humbug is the principal art, and of which 




360 CEINA. 

credulity and ignorance are the surest support. The 
practitioners are of course venal, and if properly ap- 
proached can be retained for or against any given meas- 
ure or on any side of any possible question. In all great 
or novel undertakings, where the common people can ex- 
ert any influence, or make any trouble, and especially 
where foreigners are concerned, it would be well for the 
person having the matter in hand to bear this statement 
in mind, and take timely measures to get the fung-shuy 
men on his side. Liberality in compensating them may 
lead to great saving in the end. Of course, an ignorant 
or unaided foreigner could not manage such a guild, 
but would be compelled to rely upon good interpreters 
and skillful assistants who understood the Chinese char- 
acter perfectly. I may remark here that foreign influence, 
and the progress which has already been developed in 
China, have given the death-blow to "the fung-shuy 
pidgin," at the treaty ports, and there is reason for be- 
lieving that it is sensibly on the wane even in the inte- 
rior of the country, and especially at Peking. 

By far the greatest difficulty in moving the Chinese 
Government arises from the conservatism of the literary 
or governing class, and this conservatism finds its most 
efficient agent in the Board of Censors, and the system 
of espionage of which it is at the head, throughout the 
empire. The censors, as before indicated, supervise the 
business of the Great Boards, and are at liberty to memo- 
rialize the Throne upon all subjects and at all times. 
They are the guardians of the law and of the customs of 
the people, and it is thei^ special duty to speak before the 
public or the empire has been injured. It is true that 
they must write decorously, temperately, and without 
prejudice, and may be rebuked for ignorance or willful 
falsehood, but the " all-examining court " of which they 
are members is above all other courts and boards, next to 



1 



I 



TEE OENSORATE. 351 

the Throne, and can reach it in much less time and with 
much less trouble than any other court or person. From 
its position and functions its members may always know 
what business is likely to come before the Throne, and 
hence it is easy for them to assail any measure which 
does not receive their approbation. They are specially 
on the alert against innovations and foreign schemes, 
more than one of which — good as well as bad — they have 
killed or indefinitely postponed before it had received 
imperial consideration. 

The censors, and almost all other great functionaries 
of the empire, are old men, who have reached their high 
positions by a lifetime of laborious study, devoted ex- 
clusively to Chinese classics and jurisprudence, and so 
great has been the competition through which they have 
been compelled to gain their honors, that it would have 
been impossible for them to devote much time to the 
study of foreign sciences or history, even if they had de- 
sired to do so. Having overcome and surpassed the rest 
of mankind in China at least, they naturally look with 
contempt upon the world beyond. They can see no good 
in anything which Confucius did not teach, and a sys- 
tem which produced fchem must be perfect, and needs no 
amendment. Having attained their great altitude, ** noth- 
ing remains for them but to walk in the footsteps of the 
immortal sages who have gone before them." 

And yet the Chinese statesmen are learning. With 
them the day of bows and arrows, bamboo-spears, match- 
locks and gingals, war- junks and wooden ships, has passed 
away. Lee-Eemington rifles, ironclads, and Krupp guns 
have been adopted. Arsenals and machinery, dock-yards 
and heavy fortifications, abound ; naval and military 
academies have been established ; schools for the study of 
Western languages and sciences have been opened at sev- 
eral of the treaty ports, and what is of still greater im- 



352 cnmA. 

portance is tlie fact that the Imperial Groyernment itself 
has founded and opened the Tung-wen College at the 
capital, for the instruction of the official class in the 
Western sciences. The memorial which brought the 
project to the Emperor's attention, and constitutes its 
charter, was drawn up by Prince Kung, and was con- 
curred in by four ministers of the Board of Foreign Af- 
fairs. It sets forth that its object is "to teach mathe- 
matics and astronomy, as indispensable to the under- 
standing of machinery and the manufacture of fire-arms," 
that only the scholars of high grade should be admitted, 
and that "men from the West shall be invited to giye 
instruction." They declare that the scheme "did not 
originate in a fondness for novelties, or in admiration for 
the abstract subtilties of Western sciences ; but solely 
from the consideration that the mechanical arts of the 
West all have their source in the science of mathematics." 
It points out that if China undertakes to build steamships 
and machinery, and yet declines to borrow instruction 
from the men of the West, there is danger that, following 
their own ideas, they "will squander money to no pur- 
pose." The writer o^ this remarkable document, know- 
ing the prejudices of the class to which he belongs, then 



"But, among persons who are unacquainted with 
this subject, there are some who will censure us as wrong 
in abandoning the methods of China for those of the 
West ; and some who will even denounce the proposal 
that Chinese should submit to be instructed by the people 
of the West as shameful in the extreme. Those who urge 
such objections are ignorant of the demands of the 
times. 

" In the first place, it is high time that some plan 
should be devised for infusing new elements of strength 
into the Government of China. Those who understand 



THE TUNQ-WEN COLLEGE. 363 

the times are of opinion that the only way of effecting 
this is to introduce the learning and the mechanical arts 
of Western nations. Provincial governors, such as Tso 
Tsung-Tang and Li Hung-Ohang, are firm in this con- 
viction, and constantly presenting it in their addresses to 
the Throne. . . . Should it be said that the purchase of 
fire-arms and steamers has been tried and found to be both 
cheap and convenient, so that we may spare ourselves the 
trouble and expense of home-production, we reply that 
it is not merely the manufacture of arms and the con- 
struction of ships that China needs to learn. But in re- 
spect to these two objects, which is the wiser course in 
view of the future, to content ourselves with purchase 
and leave the source of supply in the hands of others, or 
to render ourselves independent by making ourselves 
master of their arts, it is hardly necessary to inquire. 

'^As to the imputation that we hereby abandon the 
methods of China, is it not altogether a fictitious charge ? 
For, on inquiry, it will be found that Western science had 
its root in the astronomy of China, which Western schol- 
ars confess themselves to have derived from Eastern lands. 
They have minds adapted to reasoning and abstruse 
study, so that they were able to deduce from it new arts 
which shed a luster on those nations ; but in reality the 
original belonged to China, and Europeans learned them 
from us. If, therefore, we apply ourselves to those 
studies, our future progress will be built on our own 
foundation. Having the root in our possession, we shall 
not need to look to others for assistance, an advantage 
which it is impossible to overestimate." 

After pointing out that the Emperor Kanghe gave his 
hearty approbation to the science of the West, promoted 
its teachers, and that ^^in the olden times yeomen and 
common soldiers were all acquainted with astronomy," 
that '' mathematics were studied with the classics," and 



354 CHINA. 

that, according to a Chinese proverb, '^ A thing unknown 
is a scholar's shame/' he adds : '' As to the allegation that 
it is a shame to learn from the people of the West, this 
is the absurdest charge of all. For under the whole 
heaven the deepest disgrace is that of being content to lag 
in the rear of others. For some tens of years the nations 
of the West have applied themselves to the study of steam 
navigation, each imitating the others, and daily produc- 
ing some new improvement. ... Of the jealous rivalry 
among the nations of the Western Ocean it is unnecessary 
to speak ; but, when so small a country as Japan is put- 
ting forth all its energies, if China alone continues to 
tread indolently in the beaten track, without a single 
effort in the way of imjDrovement, what can be more dis- 
graceful than this ? ISTow, not to be ashamed of our in- 
feriority, but, when a measure is proposed by which we 
may equal or even surpass our neighbors, to object to the 
shame of learning from them, and forever refusing to 
learn — to be content with our inferiority — is not such 
meanness of spirit itself an indelible reproach ? 

** If it be said that machinery belongs to artisans, and 
that scholars should not engage in such employments, in 
answer to this we have a word to say. Why is it that the 
book in the Ghau-li on the structure of chariots has some 
thousands of years been a recognized text-book in all the 
schools ? Is it not because, while mechanics do the 
work, scholars ought to understand the principles ? When 
principles are understood, their application will be ex- 
tended. The object which we propose for study to-day 
is the principles of things. To invite educated men to 
enlarge the sphere of their knowledge, by investigating 
the laws of Nature, is a very different thing from com- 
pelling them to take hold of the tools of the working- 
man. ... In conclusion, we would say that the object 
of study is utility, and its value must be judged by its 



THE TUNG-WEN COLLEGE. 355 

adaptation to the wants of the times. Outsiders may 
vent their doubt and criticism, but the measure is one 
that calls for decisive action. Your servants ha^e con- 
sidered it maturely. As the enterprise is a new one, its 
principles ought to be carefully examined. To stimulate 
scholars to enter in earnest on the proposed curriculum, 
they ought to have a liberal allowance from the public 
treasury to defray their current expenses, and have the 
door of promotion set wide open before them. We have 
accordingly agreed on six regulations, which we herewith 
submit to the eye of Your Majesty, and wait reverently 
for the imperial sanction."* 

Without quoting those regulations, it is enough for 
my present purpose to say that the Tung- wen College was 
duly organized under the presidency of Dr. W. A. P. 
Martin, a distinguished American scholar and divine, and 
that, assisted by an able corps of professors, he has suc- 
ceeded in making a permanent place for it, even against 
the prejudice and covert opposition of the conservatives. 
I am glad to add that, for the current year, it has more 
pupils than ever before, and all it can accommodate. 

Dr. Martin, its efficient and vigorous head, has been 
many years a resident in China, and is perhaps more pro- 
foundly learned in Chinese history, literature, and meth- 
ods of thought, and by his position comes more closely in 
contact with the leading men of the Chinese Government, 
than any foreigner. In speaking of the intellectual 
movement and the renovation of China, he said, in 1880, 
what, notwithstanding the retirement of Prince Kung, 
for his progressive ideas, is true now : "The present is a 
minority reign ; and the influential men who surround 
the Throne are leaders in the movement to ' infuse new 



* " Hanlin Papers," by W. A. P. Martin, D. D., LL. D., President of 
the Tung-wen College, Peking. London, Triibner & Co., 1880. 



356 cnmA, 

elements of strength into the Government of China.' 
The Emperor, a lad of thirteen [now nearly seventeen], 
may imbibe their spirit and shape his policy on theirs ; 
and in a few years he will receive in person, as by treaty 
bound, the ambassadors of foreign powers. He will thus 
have an opjDortunity for acquiring new ideas such as his 
forefathers never enjoyed." * 

What will be the outcome of it all, or just what the 
course of events will be, it is impossible for any one to 
predict with certainty ; but while it is true that no 
adviser of the Throne has been willing to assume be- 
forehand the duty of marking out or forestalling a policy 
of innovation and progress for the young Emperor, it 
is nearly certain that such a policy must be adopted 
at no distant day. With trade, the missionaries, diplo- 
macy, and science, all working to the same end, and all 
having been greatly helped at various times, as we have 
seen by war the most potential agency that has ever made 
itself felt in the advancement of civilization and progress, 
the end can be neither uncertain nor long delayed. 
Every consul and envoy sent out by the Chinese Govern- 
ment, every scholar educated abroad, and indeed every 
coolie who seeks his fortune in America, becomes a liberal 
and a teacher of progress on his return home. 

One of the most significant and promising measures 
ever adopted by the Imperial Government was that of 
sending the Hon. Anson Burlingame, upon his retire- 
ment as United States minister at Peking, in November, 
1867, on a general mission to the principal governments 
of America and Europe. He was accompanied by three 
imperial envoys, and a large suite of attaches, clerks, and 
servants. Just what arguments were used to induce the 
Government to take this unheard-of step, or what were 

* " Hanlin Papers," p. 329. 



TEE BURLINGAME MISSION. 357 

its secret purposes in doing so, is not clearly known, but 
partly from Mr. Burlingame's enthusiastic representations, 
and partly through the hopes of the world at large, his 
mission was everywhere hailed as the sure precursor of an 
era of progress and prosperity for China. It was thought 
that it betokened a new and liberal policy toward foreign- 
ers and foreign enterprises, and especially toward rail- 
roads and telegraphs, on the part of the Imperial Govern- 
ment ; and, while this was denied, with much unfriendly 
comment by the foreign merchants, and especially by the 
English residing in China, the mission made the most 
satisfactory progress till brought to an untimely end by 
the death of Mr. Burlingame, at St. Petersburg, in Febru- 
ary, 1870. It negotiated and enlarged a number of trea- 
ties, but it lost its momentum in losing its head, and 
speedily returned home, to be dissolved and forgotten. 
Whatever good effects in the direction of progress might 
have otherwise resulted from it, were suppressed by the 
disgrace and retirement of Prince Kung, whose approval 
and advocacy certainly had much to do in causing it to 
be sent forth. 

Shortly after the return of this mission a number of 
Chinese boys, perhaps a hundred and fifty, were sent 
(early in 1872) to America to be educated ; many of 
them developed talents of a high order, and all made 
rapid progress in learning our language and receiving 
our education. After they had been with us from six 
to nine years, some one reported to the home Govern- 
ment that the boys were forgetting their own language, 
and were growing up in ignorance of their own country, 
its laws, literature, and customs, and should be recalled 
at once. A censor was sent out to examine and report, 
and in a short time this promising measure was recon- 
sidered, and all the boys were called home. To make 
matters worse, they were roughly treated and assigned to 



358 GHIFA. 

uncongenial employments. Some of them had found 
homes in refined and well-to-do American families, 
where they had been kindly nurtured and cared for; 
nearly all had adopted American clothing and customs, 
and the lot of the least fortunate had been far happier in 
America than was possible for the richest of them at 
home, and, of course, they were all more or less distressed 
by the unexpected change in their lot. I met quite a 
number of these young men during my travels. They 
are now from twenty to twenty-eight years old, and are 
all employed either as teachers of English or the sciences, 
or are connected with the Goyern merit service in the prov- 
inces as interpreters, telegraph operators, and writers, but 
the most of them. Judging from what I saw, are unhap- 
py and discouraged. They say that there is no chance 
for them so long as Western learning is looked down 
upon in China, and the customs of that country remain 
unchanged. All high offices are given to old men, and 
they look upon that class as all alike — conservative, ig- 
norant, and intolerant — and that no true progress can 
be made so long as they remain in power. This is 
in some degree true, blit that class can not always remain 
in power. Such men as Li Hung-Ohang and Tso-Tsung 
Tang, who never were out of their country, became lib- 
erals, and have gained the highest rank and influence 
ever enjoyed by a Chinese subject. It is now an open 
secret that Prince Kung, the uncle, and Prince Chun 
(the Seventh Prince), the father of the Emperor, are lib- 
erals, and favor the policy of progress. The Marquis 
Tseng and others, who have traveled and held diplomatic 
office abroad, are said to be still more pronounced in their 
liberal sentiments, and so even the young men who were 
partly educated in America may hope that some of their 
number will yet reach high rank and wield great influence 
in the affairs of their country. If ever one of them should 



NECESSITY OF EDUCATION. 359 

attract the attentioR of the Emperor, and gain his confi- 
dence, or that of any one closely connected with him, the 
consequences might not only be immediate but far-reach- 
ing. Neither is it impossible that some foreigner con- 
nected with the Tung-wen College, the maritime customs, 
the nayy, the army, or even with the foreign legations, 
or with one of the great foreign trading-houses in China, 
may attract the Emperor's attention or the attention of 
those around him, as did Mr. Burlingame, and thus 
secure the opportunity, directly or indirectly, to favorably 
influence his action, and start the Grovernment upon a 
course which will end in making China one of the most 
progressive nations of the world. The Emperor is all- 
powerful when he chooses to assert himself. He can con- 
trol the official class by a simple exercise of the will, and 
the official class can control the people almost as easily. 
The inaccessibility of the one, and the small number of 
the other, are circumstances which encourage the observer 
to believe that the movement when once determined can 
be maintained until it is entirely successful. In other 
words, it is necessary to educate but comparatively few 
men up to the conviction that Western arts and sciences 
are better than those of Eastern countries, and that the 
appliances of Western civilization are superior to those of 
China, in order to control and direct the common people, 
in making China one of the richest and most powerful 
nations of the earth, instead of, as she is now, the poorest 
and weakest. She is rich beyond any other power in labor, 
while her mineral resources are entirely undeveloped, and 
yet there are good grounds for supposing them to be sec- 
ond to those of no other country under the sun. With 
intelligence enough on the part of the Government and 
the official class to control and direct the people in utiliz- 
ing the resources within their reach, there can be but one 
result. 



360 CEINA. 

And this brings ns to the question which has been 
asked me so many times since my return home, "Are the 
Chinese going to build railroads, open mines, and erect 
furnaces and rolling-mills ? " I answer, unhesitatingly, 
'' Yes — whenever they can be shown that this can be done 
with their own money, obtained, at first, by private sub- 
scription, and by their own labor, under the direction of 
foreign experts, who will treat them fairly and honestly." 
They will not for the present borrow money on the credit 
of their Government or a pledge of its revenues for the pur- 
pose of paying for such works, nor will they grant con- 
cessions or subsidies to foreigners. So far as I can see, 
they will not even take money from any power or syndi- 
cate, and agree to secure the repayment of the same by 
a mortgage upon the works to be created thereby. As 
has been shown in a previous chapter, their leading 
statesmen want railroads, and have an intelligent under- 
standing of how they are to be utilized for the benefit 
of the country ; but they are not willing to have them 
upon any terms which will increase European influence 
in China, or give European powers the slightest pretext 
for intermeddling with the internal affairs of the country 
or its government. They have no surplus in the public 
treasury with which to establish and pay for a system of 
state railroads, and nothing but a great emergency could 
induce them to raise the money by taxation or to borrow 
it, even upon the simple pledge of the Imperial Grovern- 
ment's faith to repay it ; for, while they know they can 
pay interest on a hundred million dollars, if necessary, 
they look with doubt upon their capacity to repay the 
principal, and therefore dread to assume any such obliga- 
tion. They are, without knowing it, strong protection- 
ists, and look upon it as a national calamity to be com- 
pelled to send money out of the country for the purpose of 
paying interest. If they could build railroads with Chinese 



PROBABILITY OF RAILROADS. 361 

money, Chinese skilled labor, and Chinese materials, in- 
cluding steel rails and machinery, there is good reason 
for believing that they would start at once, notwithstand- 
ing the opposition of the censors and the Board of Eeve- 
niie, which have been strong enough heretofore to kill off 
or to postpone indefinitely every proposition which has 
been submitted. Under proper Government protection 
there is also good reason for believing that the necessary 
money for the initial lines can be raised from the native 
merchants at the treaty ports, and of course common labor 
can be had in any quantity and at the lowest prices ; but, 
inasmuch as there are no iron-mines opened, and no 
furnaces or rolling-mills built, it would greatly delay the 
construction of the first railroads if it were necessary to 
wait till steel rails and machinery could be manufactured 
therefor at home. They know this, and that the first 
roads built in this way would cost much more than 
they would if imported materials were used, but they 
do not care. They argue, with great cogency, that the 
money would all be spent at home, and that even if 
the roads cost ten times as much per mile, built of 
native materials, with native labor, and the least pos- 
sible number of foreign experts, it will be better for the 
country in the end ; and at all events, that is the way 
they would like to have it. 

The best practical solution of the present difficulty 
will probably be for them to lay out and construct the 
initial lines, using capital subscribed by Chinese subjects, 
and materials bought wherever they can get them cheap- 
est. They should, of course, employ American experts 
and adopt the American system of construction, for the 
reasons that they are more practical, economical, and effi- 
cient, and better adapted to the requirement of the case 
in hand. Besides, the Americans are their nearest neigh- 
bors, and, having no desire to establish colonies or to 
17 



362 GSmA. 

acquire foreign possessions, are less liable to quarrel with 
China, or to interfere under any pretext with her internal 
affairs. 

On the other hand, our Government should do all in 
its power to foster friendly relations with the Chinese. 
It should establish its legation at Peking, and its consul- 
ates throughout the empire, on the most liberal scale. Its 
diplomatic and consular agents should be habitually se- 
lected with great care, and should be paid as much as any 
other power pays for similar service ; they should be housed 
at the public expense, and surrounded with every appli- 
ance likely to increase the respect or attract the admiration 
of the Chinese people and authorities. Whatever may be- 
come the policy of our Government in reference to the 
continuance of diplomatic relations with Europe, it is 
certain that for many years, perhaps for centuries, we 
must maintain a minister at Peking, and he should in 
rank, state, and consideration be a fitting representative 
of the power, wealth, and intelligence of the Great Eepub- 
lic. The Chinese, like all Oriental people, are more or 
less impressed by the external evidences of strength and 
greatness ; and, purely as a matter of business, our Gov- 
ernment could not do better than to buy the land offered 
it by the Chinese Government, erect suitable buildings 
thereon, furnish them handsomely, advance the pay of 
the minister, secretaries, and attaches to the highest rates 
and allowances that anybody has ever suggested in their 
behalf, surround them with servants, and even give them 
a platoon of cavalry, splendidly equipped and mounted, 
to act as escort upon all visits and occasions of cere- 
mony. This would not be in accordance with our ideas 
of republican simplicity, but it would pay, and that 
is a sufficient argument ; besides, the Chinese authori- 
ties do not care for, or understand, simplicity in official 
matters. 



OUR COMMERCE WITH CHINA. 363 

Our commerce with the Chinese is in its infancy,* and 
as commerce is not only profitable in a pecuniary sense, 
but is primarily the origin of all progress, we should lose 
no time in putting our diplomatic and consular service 

* The following extract from an able and interesting speech delivered 
by the Hon. Richard "W. Townshend, of Illinois, in the House of Repre- 
sentatives, on February 3, 1887, will give a fair idea of the importance 
of the China trade : 

" Owing to our superior advantage over Europe in distance, and other 
respects, we should control most of the foreign trade in China, but statis- 
tics reveal to us the fact that England has outstripped us in that trade, 
and that France is fast overtaking us. Indeed, it is said that to-day three 
fourths of the trade of China is with England and her colonies. 

" There are twenty-two ' treaty ports ' in China open to foreign com- 
merce. 

The imports at treaty ports in 1885 were $168,000,000 

Exports at treaty ports in 1885 were 105,625,000 

Total trade $2'73,625,000 

In 1886 United States imports from China $18,972,963 

In 1886 United States exports to China 7,520,581 

Total $26,493,544 

" This does not include Hong-Kong, which, although a British island, 
yet, as it is only a few miles oif the coast of China, and its trade is actu- 
ally as much a part of the trade of China as if it was under the Chinese 
dominion, it being merely a point of transshipment of products destined 
for China or brought from China, our trade with Hong-Kong, therefore, 
should be added to that of our trade with China. In 1886 it was : 

United States imports from Hong-Kong $1,072,459 

United States exports to Hong-Kong 4,056,236 

Total $5,128,695 

" Which, added to our trade with China already mentioned, aggregates 
for 1886 the total of $31,632,239, which is about eight per cent of the 
trade of that country, as against seventy-five per cent with Great Britain, 
and the balance, with other countries. What a humiliation to our na- 
tional pride when we see a rival situated so far away from China outstrip 
us when our western border is on the same ocean with China, with far 
superior natural advantages in our favor over those of England or any 
European country ! " 



364 CHINA. 

on such a basis as will enable it to promote commerce to 
the fullest extent. There is a foolish law in our Revised 
Statutes which prohibits American ministers from recom- 
mending any one for office or employment at home or 
abroad. This should be repealed at once, and both diplo- 
matic and consular agents should be instructed that the 
more reputable and capable Americans they can find em- 
ployment for in China as experts in the arts and sci- 
ences, or as contractors for public works, or as instructors 
in the army and navy, or as advisers to the provincial 
and Imperial Governments, the better they will please the 
State Department. It is obvious that the greater the 
number of American citizens thus employed in China the 
greater will be our influence, and the more extended and 
valuable will become our commerce with the Chinese 
people. 

Congress has passed the Chinese indemnity bill, and 
this has given great satisfaction to the Chinese Gov- 
ernment and statesmen. It should as soon as possible 
authorize the President to lend army and naval officers ; 
and should in addition open the l^aval and Military 
Academies for a limited number of students to both the 
Chinese and Japanese Governments, who would no doubt 
be thankful for the favors accorded, and would in 
addition regard it as a gracious and kindly act. Again, 
I am certain that it would pay, no matter from what 
point of view it is considered. 

Manifestly, whatever our Government and people 
would do they should do promptly and cheerfully, not 
with a niggardly or a grudging hand ; for, while the Chi- 
nese are a poor people and must needs go slowly in all 
that constitutes the material elements of progress, they 
are also a self-respecting people. Their governing class 
is in addition sensitive as well as conceited, and do not 
consider themselves in any moral or intellectual sense as 



POSSIBILITIES. 365 

fit objects of charity or condescension on the part of any- 
other people or nation. 

Of course, it is impossible to predict with certainty 
when China will move in specific enterprises, what will 
be her direction and policy, or what men and nation will 
become her guide. That she will move, and, in fact, is 
moving in a general way, I think I have shown in the 
preceding pages ; and, when the reader considers the facts 
set forth, and especially the vast territory, the innumer- 
able population, and the boundless natural resources wait- 
ing for development in that far-away country, he will find 
ample subjects for speculation and prophecy. That she is 
surrounded by great perils, and confronted by many com- 
plicated problems offering themselves to her statesmen for 
solution, is obvious to the most casual observer. Whether 
she will escape the former, and satisfactorily solve the lat- 
ter, no human being can possibly know in advance. But 
with Eussia pressing upon her northern and western and the 
British Indian Empire upon her western and southwestern 
borders, both moving in accordance with the requirements 
of their '^permanent interests," and both carrying with 
them all the appliances of modern progress, it would be 
more than a miracle that she should escape war and sjjoli- 
afcion, and it is not impossible that she should ultimately 
suffer subjugation and dismemberment, as have so many 
other countries and nations of Asia. The movement of 
Eussia into the vast region between the Aral Sea and the 
Issyk-Kul, near the western borders of Thibet, the capture 
and annexation of Khiva, Tashkend, Merv, Samarcand, 
Khokand, and Bokhara, and the building of a railroad 
from ^the Caspian Sea, in the same general direction, has 
been looked upon by England as a special menace to 
Herat and her Indian Empire ; and it certainly is a men- 
ace of the most portentous character. But it should not 
be forgotten by England, and still less by China, that 



366 CEmA. 

Eussia has for two hundred years held all of I^orthern 
Asia, from the Ural Mountains to the Pacific Ocean ; 
that her Eastern possessions in that almost illimitable 
region are conterminous with those of China; that she has 
been for the last century engaged in subjugating the wild 
tribes and planting civilized colonies ; that of late years 
her settlements in the Amur Valley have been growing 
with amazing rapidity ; and, finally, that it can not be a 
great while in the world's time till they are connected 
with Europe by a railroad or railroads, which will bring 
all the resources of the empire for conquest to the very 
gates of China. When it is remembered that the latter 
is in a far worse condition for defense than is the Indian 
Empire, backed by all the intelligence, wealth, and mili- 
tary power of Great Britain and her flourishing colonies, 
it may well be admitted that Eussia is merely protecting 
her flank and her lines of communication in Southern 
Asia, while she is really aiming at the rich plains, the 
open seaports, and the boundless resources of her sleeping 
and unconscious neighbor of Eastern Asia. Admitting, 
however, that her primary object is, as commonly be- 
lieved, the conquest of Persia, Afghanistan, and British 
India, and that, if she really sets about its accomplish- 
ment with the earnestness that is attributed to her, she 
will succeed, it is obvious that, pari passu, the danger to 
China, although deferred for a quarter of a century, or 
even longer, will then be increased a hundred-fold. 

In all of this I take no account of France or Germany 
for the present ; for, although the former has twice gone 
to war with China, and has recently made good her lodg- 
ment on the southeastern border of the empire, and both 
have shown themselves anxious to push their commercial 
interests by all the means in their power, it can not be 
contended that either of them can seriously endanger the 
Chinese Government or its territorial possessions. 



POSSIBILITIES. 367 

Finally, it is always possible that the Imperial Chinese 
Government may perceive its danger in time, rearrange 
and perfect its civil administration, organize its army 
and navy in accordance with modern methods, build rail- 
roads, and develop its natural resources, and thus, as well 
as by its isolation and remoteness and by the aid of its 
innumerable population, render its position practically 
secure against all hostile encroachment. It can not be 
claimed that the Chinese are a warlike people, and hence 
I, for one, do not regard it as at all likely that they will 
ever become aggressive toward their neighbors, or danger- 
ous to foreign powers ; but in the walks of peace, to which 
they are impelled by their true policy — in agriculture, the 
arts, and manufactures — it is almost impossible to set a 
limit upon their progress, or to the influence thereof upon 
the trade, the prosperity, and the happiness of themselves 
and of the world at large. 

Note. — I have not deemed it necessary or desirable to burden this 
book with copies of the treaties between the United States and the Chi- 
nese or Ta Tsing Empire, as they call it, nor with statistical tables of the 
trade between the two countries, for they are not only cumbersome but 
dry, and, besides, they can be readily got at in other publications per- 
taining more especially to such subjects. 

J. H. W 



IirDEX. 



Administration, minor branches 
of, 186. 

Allied demands on the Imperial Gov- 
ernment in 1856, 336, 337, 340. 

Americans in China, 316. 

Ancestral worship, 349. 

Anglo - Chinese complications in 
1856, 336. 

Aristocracy, nature of the, 181. 

Armstrong, the American commo- 
dore, Canton forts attacked by, 
336. 

Avenue of Statuary, the, 225. 

Banca, city of, 300. 

Barkul, 52. 

Boards, the Six Great, 184-193. 

Boulger's " China," ix. 

Bo wring. Sir John, 336. 

Brick-tea, 54. 

British trade, aggressive nature of, 

318. 
Buddhism, a decadent religion, 349. 
Buffalo, the water-, 74, 305. 
Burgevine, 122, 123. 
Burial customs, 97-100. 
Burlingame, Hon. A. P., his mission 

to foreign governments, 356, 

357. 



Cambaluc, Mecca of Eastern Asia, 

218. 
Camel transportation, 54. 
Camphor-gum, 298. 
Canton, freely opened to foreigners, 
330. 
seized by the allied fleet, 336. 
Cantonese, the, hatred of, by other 

Chinese, 334. 
Caravans, Mongolian, 216. 
Censorate, the, 192, 193. 
its force as a foe of progress, 

193. 
most powerful of all the govern- 
mental boards, 350, 351. 
Central Flowery Kingdom, 56. 
Chang-Chin-Chun, 243. 
Chang-hwa, city of, 301. 
Chee-foo, 86, 88, 89. 
Cheshire, Mr., Chinese secretary, 

215. 
Chihli, V. 
Chi-ho, 283, 284. 
China and Japan, reasons for a new 

book on, vii. 
China, area of, 26, 27. 

author's object in visiting, iv. 
canal system of, 43. 
ceremonial visits in, 107. 



370 



INDEX. 



China, climate of, 31, 32. 

contraction of, in historic times, 
27. 

first made aware of superior 
power of foreign nations by 
the Opium War, 329. 

immense possibilities of, 359. 

isolation of, 28-31. 

lack of railroads in, iii. 

Merchants' Steamship Company, 
86. 

mental conservatism of, 81. 

military music in, 101, 116. 

military weakness of, 96. 

mineral wealth of, 52. 

navy of, 90. 

provinces of, 31. 

topography of, 32. 
Chin-Chiang-pu, 240. 
Chi-nan-fu, v, 281, 283. 
Chinese authorities refuse to sign 
treaties at Peking, 338. 

burial-customs, 9Y-100. 

civilization, 20-22. 

civilization, future of, 83, 84. 

classics, the knowled^ of, sole 
ground of official appointment, 
196. 

Engineering and Mining Com- 
pany, 227. 

attitude toward railway improve- 
ment, iii. 

indemnity bill, passed by Con- 
gress, 364. 

navy, difficulties in organizing, 
92, 93. 

New Year, 288, 289. 

non-intercourse of foreign mer- 
chants with, 102. 

race, strength and health of the, 
71. 



Chinese revenues compared with 
—those of India, 209. 

rulers, paucity of ability in, viii. 

stagnation, remedies for, 311, 312. 

Tartary, or Hi, 52. 

troops partly foreign drilled, 95. 

written language, 125. 
Ching, Prince, President of the 
Board of Foreign Affairs, 294. 

coadjutor in naval control, 91. 
Chi-ning-Chou, 266. 
Chinkiang, vi. 
Chow, Duke, 174. 

Chii-fu, home and burial-place of 
Confucius, 267-273 (see Kii-fu). 
Chu-kiang, or Pearl River, 44. 
Chun, Prince (see Seventh Prince), 
administrator of navy and 
coast-defenses, 91. 
Ciang-ho, 227. 
Civil Office, Board of, 188. 
Climate of China, 31, 32. 
Clothing, 76, 77. 
Coal, 57-62. 

Colliery of Kaiping, 57-59. 
Colonial Office, 192. 
Compradores, 333. 
Compression of the female foot, 

origin of, 69, 71. 
Commercial morals, 287, 288. 
Confucius, V. 

and his descendants, 268. 

and his disciples, teachings of, 
the whole of Chinese educa- 
tion, 309, 310. 

temples of, 269-273. 

tombs of his family, 274, 275. 
Corea, 52. 
Cotton, 77. 

Council, General, 182. 
Curiosity of Chinese mobs, 258-264. 



INDEX. 



371 



Denby, Colonel Charles, 294. 
Dinner-party in Japanese style, 6- 

12. 
Diplomatic corps, the, 165. 
Domestic animals, their scarcity, Y3. 

East India Company, 315, 318. 

Education, 308, 311. 

absolute need of a change in its 
system, 345. 

Elliot, Admiral, 324. 
Captain, 321, 324. 

Emperor of Japan, reception of the 
author by, 2 ; palace of, 3 ; de- 
scription of, 4, 5. 

English Government, its immorality 
in the Opium War, 328. 

English in China, 315. 

Enouye, Count, Japanese Minister 
of Foreign Affairs, 3. 

Ethnography, 67, 68. 

European communication with Chi- 
na, history of, 311, 321. 

Examination, public, for office, 195, 
196. 

Expenditures, governmental, 210, 
211. 
summary of, 212. 

Famines, 65, 66. 

Financial system, 200-214. 

Food resources, 71, 74. 

Foreigners in China, 21. 

Foreign loans, dread of, 213. 

Foreign merchants, agreement of, 
not to deal in opium, 323. 
influence of, in suppressing the 
Taipings, 23, 24. 

Foreign powers, alert to control 
trade and internal improve- 
ments, 175 176. 



Formosa, animals of, 305, 306. 

beautiful scenery in, 298. 

description of, 295-307. 

its commerce, present and future, 
303, 304, 307. 

lack of harbors in, 299. 

mineral resources of, 306. 

savage tribes of, 297. 

tea-culture in, 302. 
Funded debt, 212. 
Fung-shuy, 349. 

Gaishas, dancing and singing girls 

of Japan, 8-12. 
" Gazette," Peking, 170, 183, 184. 
Gordon, 120-124. 
award of the " Yellow Jacket " 

and other honors to, 332. 
Wilson's life of, author indebted 
to, ix. 
Government, absolute character of 
the, 179, 180. 
formalism in the, 181. 
organization of, 182-199. 
Governor-general, authority and 

duties of, 194, 195. 
Grand Canal, v, 43, 78. 
a visit to, 233-246. 
Chinese estimate of its impor- 
tance, 242. 
Li Hung^Chang's memorial on, 

244. 
regulation of the waters of, 240, 

241. 
solution of, possible by scientific 
engineering, 244. 
Great Plain, the, 64-66. 
appearance of the, 96. 
character of its inhabitants, 291, 
292i 
Great Wall, v, 52, 78, 215-228. 



372 



INDEX. 



Hang-kow, 338. 
Hang-Chow, 54. 

Hart, Sir Robert, head of imperial 
maritime customs, 93. 
remarkable administrative power 

of, 208. 
revenue collected by, 334. 
"Herald," the North China, 183, 

184. 
Hienfung, Emperor, 167. 

death of, 342. 
Hien-tsu, founder of the present 

dynasty, 166. 
Hwang-ho, devastating spring fresh- 
ets of the (see Yellow River), 
36. 
embankments on the (see Yellow 

River), 36-38. 
its course and character (see 
Yellow River), 33-36. 
Honan, v. 

Hong-Kong, cession of, to the Eng- 
lish, 325, 327. 
made a free port by the British, 
335. 
Hostility to foreigners, reasons for, 

320, 321. 
Houses and house-building, 75, 76. 
Hubbard, Governor, American min- 
ister to Japan, 2. 
Hue, Abbe, his theory of munda- 
tions of the Yellow River, 250. 
Hung-tse-Chuen, Taiping leader, 28. 
possible achievements of, 332. 

Ignorance of the masses, 81. 
Hi, or Chinese Tartary, 52. 
Imperial treasury, property of the, 

360, 361. 
Industrial development, the future 

of, 360. 



Inland Sea, beauty of, 1. 

Inns, a description of, 237, 238. 

Intellectual development arrested, 
309-311. 

International relations with Japan, 
changes in the, 16, 17. 

Iron, 57-62. 

Ito, Count, Japanese prime-minis- 
ter, 3. 

Japan, vi. 

duck -hunting in, 7, 8. 
fascination of, for the traveler, 

17, 18. 
genuine progress of, 13, 15. 
government of, 13, 14. 
railroads of, 14, 15. 
spring in, 2. 
Japanese ministers, accomplish- 
ments of, 3. 
Japanese wrestling, 8-10. 
Jinrikishas, man-power, carriages, 

vi. 
Jehol, 341. 

Kai-fung-fu, capital of Honan, v. 
246. 

visit to, 257-264. 
Kaiping, v. 

coal-mines of, 226-232. 

railway, 229, 230. 
Kashgar, 52. 
Kelung, city of, 299. 
Khoten, 62. 
Kienlung, 37, 168. 
Kioto, Japan, vi. 
Kirin, 52. 
Kirrea, 52. 
Ki - ying, imperial commissioner, 

proclamation of, 329. 
Kobe, Japan, vi. 



I 



INDEX. 



373 



Kowlungj, ceded to the British, 341. 
Kii-fu, burial-place of Confucius, v, 
Kuldja, 52. [267, 273. 

expedition, 54. 
Kung, Prince, 173. 

his memorial on Western arts and 

sciences, 352, 355. 
negotiator of peace with the al- 
lies, 341. 
Kwang Hsu, the new Emperor, 166- 

168, 171-176. 
Kwan-lun Mountains, 52. 
Kyan-Chan, harbor of, 90. 

Land-tax, 202. 

Lang, Captain, naval assistant to 

Viceroy Li, 91, 92. 
Language, written, 82, 125. 
Lao-Hwang-ho, the river, 285. 
Lao-mu-Miaio, temple of the Holy 

Mother, 280. 
Lay, Mr., 334. 
Liautung, 52. 
Lien-Sheng-tien, a model Chinese 

inn, 277. 
Li Hung-Chang, v, 90. 

author's report of his investiga- 
tions to, 293. 
director of naval affairs, 91. 
discussion of railroads by, 113, 

114. 
his relation to foreign powers, 

197. 
interview with, by the author, 

106-116. 
invitation to visit, vi. 
most progressive and powerful of 

Chinese statesmen, 24. 
sketch of, 105, 109, 110, 118, 119. 
Likin, the, or tax on internal com- 
merce, 205, 206. 



Lin-ching, 240, 241. 

Liteiary language, the, a distinct 

tongue, 82. 
Literati, the, or office-holders, 

181. 
Liu Ming-Ch'uan, 152, 296. 

Viceroy of Formosa, invitation to 

visit, vi. 
Locomotive, first, in China, 58, 227 

-229. 
Loess terraces, fertility of, 49. 
nature and theories about their 

origin, 49, 50. 
Lung-mun-Kou, 248, 264. 
Lung- Wang Miao, 240. 

Macao, 313. 

Manchu caste, distinction from the 
subject race, 68. 

Manchuria, 52, 63, 124. 

Marco Polo, story of, edited by Colo- 
nel Yule, viii. 

Maritime customs duties, 208. 
organization of, 334. 

Martin, Dr. W. A. P., President of 
Tung- wen College, 355. 

l&etallurgy, difficulties of Chinese 
progress in, 61, 62. 

Military helplessness, 176-178. 

Military weakness, 96. 

Min, an important river, 44. 

Mineral wealth, 52. 

Ming tombs, 223. 

Missionaries, English and Ameri- 
can, 281, 282, 286, 287. 

Missionary progress, 346, 347. 

Mongolia, Inner and Outer, 52, 53. 
gold mines in, 53. 

Mountain system, 48, 49, 51, 52. 

Nagahama, Japan, vi. 



374 



INDEX. 



Nagasaki, Japan, vi. 

Nakasendo, Japan, vi. 

Nanking, vi, 295. 

Napier, Lord, first to protest against 

official non- intercourse, 319, 

320. 
Navy of China, 90. 
Navy-yard and docks, 89. 

Opium, smuggling in, 335. 

trade in, 321-323. 

war, the, 324-327. 

treaty which followed it, 327. 
Osaka, Japan, vi. 
Otsu, Japan, vi. 

Pa-li Miao, 243. 
Pang-Chia-Chwang, 286, 287. 
Pan-ting-fu, 104. 
Parker, Admiral Sir William, 

326. 
Parker, W. H., American minister 

to Corea, 2. 
Parkes, Sir Harry, 340. 
Peh-tang, the anxiety of the govern- 
ment about, 46. , 
town and river, 227. 
Pei-ho batteries, attacked by allied 

fleet, 337, 340. 
Pei-ho River, vi. 

strategic value of the, 45, 46. 
importance of the, to Chinese 
commerce, 45. 
Peking, v. 

description of, 160, 165. 
treaties of peace signed at, 341, 
342. 
Pescadores, the, 307. 
Ping Yin, 281. 
Population, 63, 64. 
Port Arthur, 89. 



Portuguese in China, 313. 
Pottinger, Sir Henry, 326. 
Poverty, universal, 78. 
Provinces of China, 31. 
Provincial governments, the nine- 
teen, 193. 
Psalmanazar, George, 295. 
Punishments, Board of, 190. 

Railroads, pressing need of, 53. 
obstacles to the establishment of, 

99. 
a memorial concerning, by Liu 

Ming Ch'uan, 126-135. 
only practicable method of build- 
ing, 361. 
supported by Li Hung-Chang and 
Lin-K'un-Yi, 135-153. 

Revenue, Board of, 186, 187. 

Revenues, summary of, 208. 
different estimates of, 210. 

Rites, Board of, 188. 

River engineering, crudity of the 
Chinese system of, 284, 285. 

Rivers, most of the Chinese, dry in 
the rainless season, 47. 

Robinson, Sir George B., 321. 

Rockhill, Mr,, First Secretary of 
American Legation, 215. 

Russell and Company, first steam- 
boat proprietors, 86. 

Russia, danger threatening from, 
314, 365, 366. 

Russians in China, 314. 

Sakimoto, Japan, vi. 
Salt monopoly, 204, 205. 
Sankolinsin's Folly, 104. 
Sankolinsin, Prince, 340. 
Secretariat, the Grand, 182. 
Sekigahara, Japan, vi. 



INDEX. 



375 



Seventh Prince, the, father of the 
Emperor (see Prince Chun). 

Sha-ho, 21Y. 

Shamo, or Gobi, sandy desert of, 52. 

Shanghai, vi. 

description of, 20-25. 

Shanghai, Navigation Company, 86. 

Shan-hai-Quan, 54. 

Shantung, v. 

Shih-h pu, 243. 

Shinking, 52. 

Siebelin, Captain, naval assistant to 
Viceroy Li, 91. 

Simonoseki, Japan, vi. 

Spaniards in China, 313. 

Summer Palace burned by the allies, 
341. 

Superstition, universal, 349. 

Taian-fu, 277. 
Taipak-fu, 301. 
Taiping rebellion, v. 

at first encouraged by foreign 
merchants, 335. 

commerce stimulated by, 333. 

former misapprehension of, 331. 

its influence in educating Chinese 
statesmen, 331. 
Taishan, v. 

inscriptions on the rocks of, 279, 
280. 

sacred mountain, 278-280. 

temples on, 279, 280. 
Taiwan-fu, city of, 296, 300. 
Taku forts, 93, 94. 

capture of, by the allies, 94. 
Tamsui, 296. 
Tao-chung-fu, 246. 
Tashkend, 52. 
Tatnall Commodore, 94. 

co-operates with the allies, 339. 



Taukwang, the Emperor, first to 
make the opium-trade illegal, 
322. 
Ta-Wen-ho, 240. 
the river, 277. 
Taxes, how collected, 203. 

inefficiency of method, 203, 204. 
miscellaneous, 207. 
Telegraph system, 124, 125. 
Ter-chou, 239, 288. 
Thibet, probable mineral wealth of, 

52, 53. 
Throne, difficulties of approaching 
the, 169, 170. 
present powers behind the, 344. 
Tien-Shan Peh-lu, 52. 
Tien-Shan or Celestial Mountains, 

52. 
Tien-Shan Nan-Lu, 52. 
Tientsin, v. 

center of all progressive move- 
ments, 105. 
description of, 103, 104. 
destruction of French mission at, 

104, 347. 
races at, 101. 

residence of Viceroy Li, 103. 
Tokio, vi. 
Tombs of the Ming dynasty, 222- 

224. 
Topography of China, 32. 
Townshend, Congressman, his 
speech on the China trade, 
363. 
Tseng Quo-chu'an, Viceroy, vi, 120, 

295. 
Tseng Quo-fan, 120. 
Tsin Chi-Hwangti, builder of the 

Great Wall, 219. 
Tsitsihar, 52. 
Tso Tsung-tang, 120, 154-157. 



376 



INDEX, 



Tsung-li Yamen, Board of Foreign 
Affairs, 165. 
author's report of his investiga- 
tions to, 294. 
composition of, 185. 

Tung Chi, late Emperor, 16Y. 

Tung-wen College, 352-355. 

Turkistan, Eastern, 52. 

Twatutia, seat of Formosan govern- 
ment, 296. 

Tycoon, decadence of the power of 
the, 5. 

Tz'-u Hsi, Empress-Dowager, 167- 
169, lYl, 172. 

United States, the, its true Chinese 

policy, 362-364. 
Urum-tsi, 62. 

Wade, Sir Thomas, 122, 334. 

Walled cities, 78, 79. 

War, Board of, 189. 

Ward, American minister, embar- 
rasses other plenipotentiaries, 
339. 

Ward, General, organizer of the 
" Ever-Yictorious Army," 33, 
120, 121. 



Ward, Gen., receives divine honors 

after death, 332. 
Wei-hai-wei, 90. 
Wheelbarrow carriages, 278. 
Williams, S. Wells, missionary and 

diplomat, "Middle Kingdom" 

by, vii. 
Women in Japan, 8-12. 
Woosung Eiver, 20. 
Works, Board of, 191, 192. 

Yang-tse-kiang, vi, 19. 

affluents of, 42. 

description of, 40-42. 
Yellow Eiver (see Hwang -ho), 

V. 

causes of its floods (see Hwang- 

ho), 236. 
inundations of (see Hwang-ho), 

248, 256. 
embankments of, irregularly 
built (see Hwang-ho), 245, 
246. 
Yokohama, vi. 
Yokogawa, Japan, vi. 
Yungloh, Ming Emperor, 222, 
Yu-wang-shaug-to, 280. 



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